The resolution on abortion

The report in The Times (April 15) on the Council of Europe (CoE) resolution on abortion was most disconcerting.

The resolution calls on CoE member states to make abortion "an unconditional right". It also urges them to "guarantee a woman's effective exercise of the right to abortion". This resolution was reportedly passed by the CoE assembly on April 16 with 102 votes in favour, 69 against and 14 abstentions.

The resolution is not legally binding on member states of the CoE. However, as the The Times rightly points out, "if a case goes to the European Court of Justice and this resolution is in force, it could be a different matter". Given the strong majority in favour of the resolution, the decision could have a strong impact on the deliberations of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) if and when a case comes before it.

The possibility of a case landing before the ECJ is now highly probable, given that the issue is one of great interest in Europe. Of the 27 member states of the EU only Malta prohibits all forms of abortion. In Ireland abortion is allowed under very strict conditions to save a woman's life if at risk, including suicide. Because of these strict conditions more than 6,000 Irish women annually go to the UK for a termination. Most countries allow abortion within the first 12 weeks of gestation. Eight countries allow abortion under certain conditions.

I am convinced that the adoption of the resolution by the CoE is another step in the battle being waged by the pro-abortionists to have it legalised in an unrestricted manner throughout Europe under the guise of a "right". One has to keep in mind that the seed of the resolution started very innocently on a debate linked to the concept of "equality to all". With the CoE resolution now in place it is most probable that those in favour of legalising abortion would go the extra mile and present a case before the ECJ with the specific intention to have a decision from the court in favour of the concepts in the said resolution in order to put further pressure on those countries which allow it under certain conditions and, more so, on those countries where abortion is completely prohibited (such as Malta) or severely restricted (such as Ireland).

Given this situation one is entitled to ask: In the event that the ECJ takes a decision upholding the resolution taken by the CoE on abortion as an "unconditional right", would this decision be binding on member states of the EU? If in the affirmative, one would like to know what would be the position of the government party and the opposition party in such circumstances. As far as I am aware, failure by the authorities of a member state of the EU to act on such a decision would entitle the ECJ to rectify and redress such a situation in favour of its own decision - i.e. make it legally binding in the country concerned. Perhaps someone in authority or an MEP could enlighten us on this. This is a matter of great concern to all of us in this country.