The ruling will bring pressure on Stormont to weaken legal protection for the unborn

BELFAST : The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), the UK’s leading pro-life organisation, says that the ruling by the High Court that Northern Ireland’s ban on abortion breaches human rights is "dangerously flawed".

SPUC is calling on the Attorney General to work with pro-life groups to mount a robust appeal against the judgement.

Earlier this year the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission applied for a judicial review of the law. The Commission claimed that the law, which prohibits abortion, violates the European Convention on Human Rights because it does not make exceptions for children who are disabled or whose mothers had been victims of rape or sexual assault.

Right to life, not abortion

Liam Gibson, the Northern Ireland development officer for SPUC, which intervened in the case, said:

"The ruling by Judge Mark Horner is dangerously flawed.  The judge misrepresented the protection of children before birth in case law and statute law in Northern Ireland. He also confused the separate legal issues of viability and the capacity to be born alive."

Liam Gibson continued:

"Not one universal human rights treaty recognises a right to abortion. However, the right to life is shared by all members of the human family. The Declaration on the Rights of the Child (DRC) acknowledges that ‘the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth’. The DRC explicitly states that the need for such special safeguards is ‘recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’."

For further information please contact:
Liam Gibson: Tel: 02890 778018 or 07968 078773 or 07984 990688
Paul Tully: 020 7820 3127 or 07939 178719