Strasbourg, France, Dec 9, 2009 / 00:18 am
Ireland’s constitutional amendment protecting the unborn could be overturned in a “pivotal” case before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Some are calling the case “the Roe v. Wade of Europe.”
Three women who sought abortions in Ireland sued under the European Convention on Human Rights to overturn the country’s legal protections for pre-born children. The three women, who obtained abortions in Britain, are trying to establish a “right” to abortion in Ireland in a case titled A, B, and C v. Ireland.
The women also want to establish a precedent that would define abortion as a right across all of Europe under the European Convention on Human Rights.
The lawsuit will be decided in the Grand Chamber of the EHCR in Strasbourg, France. The American groups Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and the Family Research Council (FRC) filed a joint brief in November 2008 with two other pro-life organizations at the court’s request after it allowed the groups to intervene as defendants in this case.