Senator Mullen calls for referendum after European Court decision abortion

Legislation for abortion “would be fundamentally unjust”.

No Irish Government should abandon its duty of care to Irish women and unborn children by legalising abortion, Senator Rónán Mullen said today, in the wake of the ECtHR ruling on the ABC case. The Strasbourg Court ruled that a woman’s European Convention right to privacy was violated because there was no “accessible and effective” procedure to allow her establish whether she qualified for a lawful abortion in Ireland in accordance with Article 40.3.3 of the Irish Constitution.

“It is clear that the European Court decision does not require us to legislate for abortion in any particular circumstances,” Senator Mullen said. “The court is, however, pointing to the circumstances where our Constitution currently permits abortion and is saying we should legislate to provide a pathway for that.”

“This decision points to the wisdom of the 2002 referendum-and-legislation proposal to protect to protect best medical practice while overturning the flawed Supreme Court decision of 1992.”

“Legislation now according to the 1992 decision would be fundamentally unjust, not least because it would effectively usher in abortion on demand, but also because there was no proper medical evidence before the Supreme Court in 1992. On top of this, rather than being a solution to mental health problems, abortion has been shown by study after study in recent years to be associated with an increased incidence of mental health problems, including suicidal ideation, in women.”

“The Government must turn again to the democratic option of a referendum, to allow the Irish people an opportunity to reaffirm our constitutional protection of all human beings, including the unborn, while guaranteeing best medical care for women in pregnancy. Too often judicial and political debate neglects to mention that intentional abortion is never medically necessary to save the life of a woman, and that Ireland without abortion is consistently ranked as among the safest countries in the world in which to give birth.”

 “It is clear from today’s ruling that the ECtHR must respect whatever law the Irish people settle on the issue,” Senator Mullen concluded.