Madam, - The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the human rights of Alicja Tysiac were breached because Poland has no effective legal framework that offers a pregnant woman a right to an abortion on medical grounds, even though abortion is legal in Poland if her health is at risk (The Irish Times, March 21st).
Irish doctors and patients face a similar situation here, as there is no legal framework that guarantees the right to an abortion in the case of risk to life and/or health. The judgments following the X and C cases imply the legality of abortion in cases of maternal risk, but legislation has never been written.
We encourage women to vindicate their rights at the European Court of Human Rights in the hope that a similar judgment will be found against the Irish State for its inaction on this serious clinical issue which affects thousands of patients. - Yours, etc,
Dr JULIET BRESSAN, Dr MARY FAVIER, Doctors for Choice, Dublin 2.