Irish government planning a move to legalize abortion
CWN – July 09, 2012
Ireland’s largest political party is planning to introduce legislation that would legalize abortion.
Fine Gael, the leading party in Ireland’s ruling government coalition, had pledged in 2011 that it would not introduce legislation to end the country’s ban on abortion. But health minister James Reilly has now written to Fine Gael colleagues, saying that the government will propose “effective and accessible procedures whereby pregnant women can establish whether or not they are entitled to a lawful abortion.”
Reilly said that the new legislation is required because of a 2010 decision by the European Court of Human Rights, which found that Ireland must clarify its law regarding abortion. However, the European court specifically stated that Ireland is entitle to continue its ban on the practice.
Additional sources for this story: Fine Gael push to introduce abortion (Irish Catholic) www.irishcatholic.ie/content/fine-gael-push-introduce-abortion