Choice Ireland

Speaking in advance of today’s demonstration at noon at Leinster House, Choice Ireland spokesperson Stephanie Lord condemned the Government’s delay in establishing the Expert Group on Abortion and said it must introduce legislation to comply with the judgment handed down by the European Court of Human Rights in the ABC Case.

Stephanie Lord said:

“The ABC judgment was delivered in December 2010 and stated that the Government must ensure the availability of abortion in cases where it is already legal. This is very simple – it means that the Government must legislate for abortion under the terms of the X Case, that is, when the woman's life is at risk. We have been waiting almost 20 years for this legislation.

“Women’s healthcare is not a priority for this Government and it appears that they still do not want to introduce this legislation. Instead we were told that they were going to establish an “Expert Group” to look at this issue, which was merely a delaying tactic designed to appear as though the state was complying with the ECHR’s six-month deadline.

“The Expert Group was meant to be established by November. This morning, however, the Irish Times reported that the group will be set up ‘by the end of the year or shortly thereafter’. The Government is now delaying its own delaying tactic.

“Meanwhile at least twelve women leave this State every day to access abortion services overseas. This is not an issue that is going to go away any time soon, and the Government has a responsibility to its citizens to stop putting this on the long finger and ensure that the Expert Group is convened immediately - in an open, transparent and democratic manner - and with a view to introducing legislation for X as required under the ECHR decision.” ENDS

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