manus
There is no right to abortion in Irish Law
After the X-case ruling it seemed that a loop-hole allowing for abortion on demand had been opened by the Supreme Court in that judgement. After all if all a woman has to do is claim she is suicidal to be legally allowed abort her child then we have abortion on demand.
This belief was the impetus behind the emergence of Christian Pro-Life parties, the foundation of Youth Defence and the growth in pro-life activity.
However the use of a threat of suicide as a means of being able to get a legal abortion in Ireland is based on the test laid down by the Chief Justice in the supreme court ruling in the X-case.
What he said was that there had to be a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother, and that that risk could only be avoided, (that there be no other way), by a termination of the pregnancy. In other words, the woman seeking the abortion must actually be in grave danger of dying, and that there be no other way of ensuring her survival except the termination of the pregnancy before an abortion could be contemplated.
During the 2002 debate the renowned psychiatrist, the late Professor Anthony Clare, along with his UCD counterpart, issued a clear statement that abortion is NEVER the only way to avoid a threat of suicide of a pregnant woman. That statement effectively removed the ruling in the X-case as a means of procuring legalised abortion.
If politicians legislate for abortion, and get away with it, you don't live in a democracy, or under the rule of law!
This belief was the impetus behind the emergence of Christian Pro-Life parties, the foundation of Youth Defence and the growth in pro-life activity.
However the use of a threat of suicide as a means of being able to get a legal abortion in Ireland is based on the test laid down by the Chief Justice in the supreme court ruling in the X-case.
What he said was that there had to be a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother, and that that risk could only be avoided, (that there be no other way), by a termination of the pregnancy. In other words, the woman seeking the abortion must actually be in grave danger of dying, and that there be no other way of ensuring her survival except the termination of the pregnancy before an abortion could be contemplated.
During the 2002 debate the renowned psychiatrist, the late Professor Anthony Clare, along with his UCD counterpart, issued a clear statement that abortion is NEVER the only way to avoid a threat of suicide of a pregnant woman. That statement effectively removed the ruling in the X-case as a means of procuring legalised abortion.
If politicians legislate for abortion, and get away with it, you don't live in a democracy, or under the rule of law!
