Both sides of abortion debate welcome Strasbourg judgment

The refusal of the European Court of Human Rights to rule on the question of the right to life of the unborn was welcomed yesterday by both anti-abortion and pro-choice campaigners.

Each agreed the Government should decide on the issue, rather than have legislation imposed on Ireland through the EU.

Mr Justin Barrett, of the Mother and Child Campaign, said that, while he was "glad the EU is staying out of this area", this could change if the European constitution was ratified. "I welcome it as a good and proper judgment. But it might not hold for much longer. This area is for national governments. The constitution will bring abortion into the competence of the EU."

It was worrying that the human rights court failed to take "a definite position on the personhood of the unborn child".

But Ms Goretti Horgan of the Derry-based Alliance for Choice said the court was "absolutely right" to say the question of whether the unborn child was a person could only be answered in the abstract.

"That, in essence, is what the pro-choice movement has been saying for years. The question of whether it's a person is usually decided by the woman herself."

A spokeswoman for the Pro-Choice Campaign added: "We have been saying for a long time that the Government should introduce legislation, and the court's decision would seem to justify that position."

Mr John Smyth, of the Pro-Life Campaign, said: "Naturally, we think that all courts of justice should expressly vindicate the right to life from its fragile beginnings, but in the reality where they do not it is best they leave such decisions to national governments as the latest ECHR judgment recognises."