Three Irish women who had abortions in the UK over the past year are taking Ireland to the European Court of Human Rights for failing to allow their pregnancies to be terminated in the State, writes Joe Humphreys.
The women, who lodged their case this week, claim "the exceptionally restrictive nature of Irish law on abortion jeopardises their health and their wellbeing".
The Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA), which is supporting the case as part of a new campaign aimed at the introduction of legal abortion services in Ireland, said it was confident of success.
Ivana Bacik, a spokeswoman for the new campaign group, Safe and Legal in Ireland, admitted the case might not get a hearing in Strasbourg for up to 18 months.
However, she said she believed it would ultimately contribute to a change in the law, just as the 1988 Norris case resulted in the decriminalisation of homosexuality.
As well as funding the case, the IFPA plans to meet the leaders of all political parties over the next month to seek a commitment on "moving forward" on abortion.
Announcing the details of the new campaign in Dublin yesterday, IFPA chairwoman Catherine Forde accused successive governments of "lacking courage and leadership" by failing to deal with abortion "in a realistic and rational way".
Ms Bacik said: "Recent opinion polls certainly show that people in Ireland are increasingly recognising abortion should be legal in a range of different circumstances."
This view was contested yesterday by anti-abortion groups, which are seeking a fresh referendum to prevent the Government from legislating on the issue. A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform said yesterday it had no plans to introduce legislation on abortion.