Mixed ruling on Irish abortion laws by European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights fined Ireland €15,000 today for preventing a Lithuanian cancer-sufferer from having an abortion, when she claimed her life was in danger without the procedure.

However, the court upheld Ireland’s laws against abortion in the case of two other women, who were seeking to overturn the country’s laws, which are the most pro-life in Europe.

“It’s a mixed bag,” said Joseph Meaney, Director of International Coordination for Human Life International. “It doesn’t change an extraordinary amount. What it basically says …[it is advancing] a right to abortion in the case of the life of the mother. It is saying, Clearly, that countries have the right to make their own laws with regard to abortion on demand, with regard to abortion for social reasons, with regard to 99% of abortion cases.”

The court ruled that Ireland did not enforce its own laws, which allow for abortion in cases where the life of the mother is at stake.

“Technologically, that is becoming less and less of an issue, because it is becoming more and more scientifically feasible to treat the child and the mother without recourse to abortion,” he told Vatican Radio.

Listen to Joseph Meaney's full interview with Charles Collins: