Judicial review of abortion legislation
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Members of Precious Life will be attending the High Court on Monday 30th November to hear Mr Justice Horner’s ruling in the judicial review of abortion legislation in Northern Ireland.
In June the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission took the Department of Justice to court to demand the legalisation of abortion in cases of rape and incest and when the unborn child has been diagnosed with a ‘serious’ disability. According to the Commission, the illegality of abortion was in violation of the European Convention of Human Rights; namely, the prohibition of torture and degrading treatment, the right to privacy, and the prohibition of discrimination.
Precious Life, the leading pro-life group in Northern Ireland, was a third party intervener on behalf of the unborn child in this landmark case. Awaiting the judgment on Monday, Bernadette Smyth, the director of Precious Life, states:
“We hope that the judge will have carefully considered the submissions which clearly outlined that there is no such thing as a ‘right to abortion’ and that Northern Ireland is under no obligation in international human rights law to legalise the lethal discrimination of unborn children because of their disability or circumstance of conception.
“We hope that Mr Justice Horner will respect the democratic wishes of the people of Northern Ireland and recognise that every unborn child must be protected in law, policy and practice.
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