A, B and C v. Ireland

In this case, the three applicants were Irish residents, but had abortions in the United Kingdom because abortion was unlawful in Ireland. Two of the applicants sought abortions for health and/or wellbeing-related reasons, while the third applicant was unable to establish her eligibility for a lawful abortion in Ireland. The third applicant was in remission for cancer and, due to a lack of information on the impact of the pregnancy on her remission and the effect of her treatment on the pregnancy, sought the abortion because of the risks involved with the pregnancy. The court found that while the European Convention of Human Rights did not confer a right to abortion, the prohibition of abortion in circumstances involving the applicant’s health and/or well-being, and the fact that the third applicant was unable to establish her eligibility came within the scope of the applicants’ right to their private lives under Article 8 of the Convention. The Court found no violation of Article 8 with respect to the first and second applicants because the interference with the right was in accordance with Irish law and “moral values deeply embedded in the fabric of society in Ireland”; however, the Court found that the prohibition violated the third applicant’s Article 8 right because there were no “effective and accessible procedures” that would allow the third applicant to establish that she qualified for a lawful abortion in Ireland. The State therefore had failed to comply with the “positive obligation to secure to the third applicant effective respect for her private life by reason of the absence of any implementing legislative or regulatory regime providing an accessible and effective procedure by which she could have established whether she qualified for a lawful abortion in Ireland.” In 2018, Ireland enacted the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act, which allows abortion (i) during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, (ii) when the fetus has a condition that is likely fatal, or (iii) to protect the life or health of the woman.