Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 April 2013
654. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Health his views on the recently published peer reviewed paper (details supplied), a leading authority on abortion and psychiatry, to the effect that the law cannot rely on mental health as a grounds for abortion [19051/13]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the law in Ireland in this area is set out in Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution, which states: ‘The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.’ The law was further clarified by the judgment of the Supreme Court, in the case of Attorney General v X & Others (the X case) in 1992. This held that if it were established as a matter of probability that there was a real and substantial risk to the life, as distinct from the health, of the mother which could only be averted by the termination of her pregnancy, such a termination was lawful. A termination of pregnancy arising from a risk to life from suicide was deemed lawful under this judgment.
Therefore, it is inaccurate to suggest that termination will be permitted in cases where there are mental health risks - rather it will only be permitted where it is established by expert medical opinion that as a matter of probability there is a real and substantial risk to the life, as opposed to the health, of the mother which can only be avoided by the termination of her pregnancy.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Government has approved the implementation of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the A, B and C v Ireland case by way of legislation with regulations, within the parameters of Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court in the X case. The aim of the Bill is to bring clarity and certainty in relation to the process for the determination of whether a termination of pregnancy is permissible on the basis that there is a real and substantial risk to the life, as opposed to the health, of a woman as a result of that pregnancy.
