The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Irish abortion laws violated the rights of one of three women who sought terminations in Britain.
The woman, who was in remission for a rare form of cancer, feared it might return as a result of her pregnancy.
While abortion in the Republic is technically allowed if a woman’s life is at risk, the court said that was not made possible for the woman involved.
But it ruled two other women in the case had not had their rights breached.
Thursday’s ruling could require a change to Irish law.
The first two women in the case were a single mother who had other children in care and a woman who was concerned about the danger of an ectopic pregnancy.
The court said that the government in Dublin had breached the third woman’s right to respect for her private life by its “failure to implement the existing constitutional right to a lawful abortion in Ireland”.
It ruled that “neither the medical consultation nor litigation options, relied on by the Irish government, constituted effective and accessible procedures which allowed the third applicant to establish her right to a lawful abortion in Ireland”.
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