The importance of the case of three women challenging the Irish constitutional protections for the unborn has "grown exponentially" says a pro-life attorney that is involved in the case.Not only is the Republic of Ireland's ability to have legal protections for the unborn now at stake in the high profile case currently before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), but potentially the entire continent's.
"This case could be the Roe v. Wade of Europe, so its importance should not be underestimated," said Roger Kiska of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), the public-interest legal alliance that is acting to protect the existing law.
The significance of the ABC v. Ireland case has increased sharply since Wednesday when the court allowed the case to go to the Grand Chamber reserved for those cases of international significance.
Decisions of the Grand Chamber are binding on all lower courts and all member states.
Attorneys say that the decision in the case will now affect policy for all of the European Union.
In 2007, three abortion activists filed a complaint with the ECHR claiming that the protections for unborn children in the Irish constitution jeopardized their "health and wellbeing" when they had to travel abroad for abortions.
This, they said, placed "enormous physical, emotional and financial burdens" upon them. They are claiming that the law created "delays and hardships" resulting in each of them having a later abortion.
The women, known in court documents as A, B and C, are being represented by the Irish Family Planning Association.
"Ireland's constitutional amendment defending innocent life is under attack, and now the stakes have just gotten higher," said ADF Legal Counsel Roger Kiska.
"The case is not only pivotal to Europe; it is pivotal to America as well," Kiska added. "With ever-greater frequency, American courts have considered what other countries are doing when deciding their own cases."
"This case could mean the difference between life and death for countless pre-born children who have been guaranteed protection under the Constitution of Ireland," said Kiska. "For countless nations, life is in the balance for an untold number of pre-born children in the future."
At a rally in Dublin earlier this month, a crowd of 7000 from the north and south of Ireland protested the fact that the legal protections for the unborn are under attack on multiple fronts, including the threat from the European Union of a renewed Lisbon Treaty that could undermine the country's ability to make its own laws.
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