The State advanced no arguments to support its position that the foetus was not a person when it defended a deportation order for a pregnant Nigerian woman in the High Court yesterday.
Mr Justice Smyth will give his judgment tomorrow week in the first case where an unborn child is seeking a reconsideration of a deportation order on its mother.
When the case opened on Tuesday the State said in its statement: "It is denied that the first named Applicant is a person or has a right to legal personality."
In the second day of the hearing yesterday Dr Michael Forde SC, representing the asylum-seeking woman and her unborn child, said he was entitled to a declaration from the court that the foetus was a person. He said the State appeared to be resiling from its earlier position, outlined in its statement of opposition to his application, that it was not.
In his submission yesterday Mr George Birmingham SC, for the State, made no reference to the second paragraph in the document which denied that the unborn was a person or had a right to legal personality.
The State's position, presented to the High Court on Tuesday, dated January 7th and signed by the Chief State Solicitor, Mr David O'Hagan, also stated: "It is further denied, for the avoidance of doubt, that the first named Applicant is a person within the meaning of Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999, or is otherwise a person or entity entitled to separate consideration for the purposes of deportation of his or her mother from the State."
Mr Birmingham said at no stage had it ever been suggested by the State that the unborn child was without rights. "What we are saying is that in the context of these proceedings the rights of the unborn are not distinguishable."
He said this "is not a case where the right to life is being put at risk. Instead, however it's dressed up, this is about a person who comes here, puts in a claim for asylum, loses at all stages and says, while that claim is being processed, 'I've become pregnant and because the health service here is superior to that in my country of origin, I claim the right to have my baby here'."
The former Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, appealed yesterday for the State not to argue in court that the unborn was not a person. In a statement he said: "An unborn baby is a person, can feel pain, can be psychologically affected by what happens to it, and has human rights. The abortion industry might like to deny that an unborn child is a person, and to deny that an unborn baby has human rights, including the right to life. But the Irish State should not make that case in court for any purpose whatsoever."