Spokesmen available for interview re tomorrow’s major European court abortion judgment
Spokesmen available for interview re tomorrow’s major European court abortion judgment Strasbourg, : Tomorrow (at 11:00 French time, 10:00 UK time) the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, will deliver its judgment in the case of three Irish women who have challenged Ireland’s constitutional ban on abortion.
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), a leading European pro-life group, is an intervening party in the case.
SPUC’s joint submission with other pro-life groups can be read at Patrick Buckley, of European Life Network Ireland and of SPUC, said: "We hope that the court will respect Ireland’s national sovereignty by leaving the Irish Constitution’s ban on abortion alone. The Irish Supreme Court last year ruled* that the Irish Constitution trumps the European Convention on Human Rights, because the Convention is not part of Irish law and therefore not directly applicable in Irish cases." * McD. -v- L.&anor, 10 Dec 2009 http://bit.ly/g5k35B "Thus far the European Court of Human Rights has never interfered in the constitutions of European nation-states. Ireland must dismiss out of hand any such interference if the court attempts it in its judgment tomorrow. In protecting the unborn from abortion Ireland is fulfilling its duty under international human rights law to protect the lives of its innocent citizens", concluded Mr Buckley.
Liam Gibson of SPUC will be outside the court tomorrow both before and after the judgment and will be available to the media for comment.
Mr Gibson can be telephoned on: • mobile +44 (0)7984 990668 or • mobile +44 (0)7968 078773 and emailed at liamgibson@spuc.org.uk SPUC’s London-based media office can be telephoned on: • landline +44 (0)20 7820 3129 or • mobile +44 (0)7939 177683 and emailed at news@spuc.org.uk SPUC’s previous media releases on the case can be found at: http://www.spuc.org.uk/news/releases/2010/december10 http://www.spuc.org.uk/news/releases/2009/december09