Choice Ireland held a protest today to demand that the government act to bring in legislation in line with the ABC rulings of the European Court of Human Rights. The court ruled that the human rights of a woman (C) had been breached because the state has not introduced legislation which permits abortion in circumstances where a woman’s life may be at risk. The ruling required that the government should act by last June. Fine Gael and Labour pushed the matter back into another ‘expert group’, despite the fact that there have been Supreme Court rulings, referendums, and three Dáil Committee Reports supporting this provision.
In June, the government said that the latest ‘expert group’ was to be put in place by the end of November. But Minister Reilly has refused to say what the remit of this group will be, who will be on it and when it will report. Indeed in a letter today he says all of this information will be published … in another six months’ time.
This is an insult to Irish women – and a further denial of their human rights. People Before Profit and the ULA are working with Choice Ireland to bring pressure for action upon Fine Gael and especially Labour – who supposedly support legislation for the X Case ruling but evidently won’t do anything about it. We will be working with Choice Ireland and others to launch a campaign for legislation early next year.