National Women’s Council of Ireland welcomes publication of X Case Legislation but raises concerns

Published: Wednesday, May 01, 2013

The government published the General Scheme of the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill 2013 on April 30th 2013. The publication of the Bill is the response of the State to its obligations arising from the European Court of Human Rights Judgement in the case of A, B and C v. Ireland in 2010.

In response to the publication of the Heads of the Bill on Protection of Life during Pregnancy, Orla O'Connor, Director of the National Women's Council of Ireland said,

'We welcome that after 21 years of inaction, the government has finally proposed legislation to give effect to the X Case judgement. This is an important step towards ensuring that women's lives during pregnancy will be protected. The National Women's Council of Ireland will assess the details of the bill over the coming days and issue a more detailed briefing in due course. We will in particular look at the Bill's capacity to ensure the necessary legal clarity and provision for realistic procedures that will allow a woman in practice to exercise her constitutional right to an abortion in life-threatening circumstances, including suicide.'

Ann Irwin, Policy Officer with the National Women's Council of Ireland added,

'At a first glance, we welcome that one doctor will be able to make a decision in the case of a medical emergency. While the requirement for three doctors in the case of suicide is an improvement to earlier reports referring to up to six doctors being involved in the decision, we remain concerned that the process will not be effective and accessible for women as required by the European Court of Human Rights A,B,C vs Ireland judgement.  We also need to consider the appeal process in more detail, in particular the unanimity clause and how this will work in practice. In addition, we are concerned that the Bill does not fully decriminalise abortion and still provides for the potential imprisonment of a pregnant woman who has an abortion or self-aborts outside of the very restrictive boundaries of the Bill.'

Orla O'Connor concluded,

'We must also not forget that legislation for the X case will only deal with a very small number of cases and will not change anything for the majority of women in this country.  Ireland will still have one of the most restrictive abortion regimes in the world. It will provide no solution to women who are pregnant as a result of rape or incest, in the case of fatal foetal abnormalities or where there is a risk to the health of the woman.  Women in crisis pregnancies will still be forced to travel abroad for abortions due to the lack of access to full reproductive rights in Ireland.'

The NWCI published an outline to the main elements of the Bill.

We will provide a greater analysis of the Bill for all members in the coming weeks.

NWCI Information Brief: Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill