Madam, – The letters by Richard Greene and John Lacken (July 18th), which, incidentally, were the only two letters printed in relation to the Lisbon Treaty on this date, serve to further embellish the myth that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) could possibly overrule Ireland’s abortion laws, using the Charter of Fundamental Rights as justification, if the treaty is passed.
Article 51 of the Charter outlines its scope of influence, indicating that there must be “due regard for the principle of subsidiarity” and that it “does not establish any new power or task for the Community or the Union, or modify powers and tasks defined by the treaties”. It is well-established that nothing in the EU treaties can impinge on Article 40.3.3 of the Irish Constitution, which refers to our national laws on abortion.
It is therefore a logical fallacy to suggest that the Charter could be used, in theory, by the ECJ to revoke existing Irish abortion law, as invoking such a rationale would directly contravene the Charter itself. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I was fascinated to see the two anti-Lisbon anti-abortion letters, in Saturday's Irish Times, juxtaposed to the crisis pregnancy agency's Abortion Aftercare advertisement in the Magazine of the same paper (page 17).
Based on the economic premise that services only exist to meet demand, perhaps it is time to face the fact that it is not the Lisbon Treaty that will make abortion a reality in Ireland. – Yours, etc,