Abortion Case in Dublin High Court

national | gender and sexuality | press release

Monday April 30, 2007 20:57

by Alliance for Choice

theallianceforchoice at eircom dot net

another X case?

ALLIANCE FOR CHOICE
CALLS ‘D’ CASE
A TRAGEDY WAITING TO HAPPEN

It was only a matter of time before another distressed young woman was forced to remind the Irish people of the disgraceful situation facing women in crisis pregnancies in this country. The HSE’s refusal to permit a young woman in their custody to terminate her non-viable pregnancy is consistent with the hypocrisy exhibited by successive Irish governments who have refused to deal with the issue. It is truly outrageous that this vulnerable young woman should be further traumatised by having to ask the courts for the right to terminate a pregnancy that can, at best, result in the birth of a child with no possibility of life.

Dr. Mary Muldowney, spokesperson for Alliance for Choice said:
“The HSE must retract their callous approach to D’s tragic case and facilitate her choice for a termination. She cannot afford any further delay and the Irish people will not thank the HSE or the government for again brutalising a young woman in their name.”

Following on from the X and C cases in the 1990s, legislation dealing with the issue of abortion was promised, but even after the people rejected the Government’s 2002 attempt to roll back the X judgement even that minimal protection has not been underpinned by law. While the near total ban on abortion in Ireland does not prevent most women from seeking abortions it does result in increased delay, expense, unnecessary hardship and stigma for those women who face particular barriers to accessing services abroad, such as women living in poverty, young women, migrant and asylum-seeking women, and all those in the direct care or control of the State.