New Abortion Laws Could Be In Place By The Summer, Says Minister For Health

New laws that will reform the limited ban on abortion in Ireland could be in place by the summer, the Minister for Health, Dr James Reilly has revealed.

The Irish Daily Star reports that the Minister has said he wants the abortion debate to be resolved as quickly as possible and is expecting draft legislation to be ready by Easter of this year.

“I think in an ideal world that is what I would like to see. But I can’t forsee all the difficulties and potholes along the road from here and there,” said Dr Reilly.

“But certainly we have mapped from then to now as to what needs to be done. This is a hugely complex piece of legislation, which is clearly an emotve issue for so many people,” he added.

The need for abortion legislation came into the spotlight late last year when a woman named Savita Halappanavar died in Galway University Hospit after a miscarriage. Savita and her husband allegedly asked for a termination of her pregnancy but were refused it. Her husband alleged that medical staff in the hospital told them “this is a Catholic country” and refused to carry out the termination.

The Minister for Health, Dr James Reilly

Dr Reilly has been given a 1,000-page report from a parliamentary health committee, which held three days of hearings on proposed abortion legislation at the start of January.

The report itself included the views of medical and legal experts, leaders from the Catholic Church and other advocacy group representatives. The Minister said that the report would be “hugely informative” to the Irish Government as it draws up draft legislation which would allow for a termination to take place in cases where a woman’s life is in danger or where there is the risk of suicide.

The new laws will be drafted in accordance with the 20-year-old Supreme Court ruling on the X Case, a landmark case that found that the State violated the rights of a woman in remission from cancer who was forced to travel abroad in order to terminate her pregnancy.