A colleague of mine who has been doing a bit of research on abortion funding has found that the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) received a grant of 146,807 US dollars from the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) – according to its financial statement for 2008. In the same period, the Family Planning Association in Northern Ireland received a sum of 68,586 US dollars from the IPPF. The IPPF, as we all know, is the biggest provider and promoter of abortion worldwide.
The IFPA (the Irish affiliate of the IPPF) is the organisation which is supporting the three women (known as ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’) who have taken Ireland to the European Court of Human Rights because they were unable to obtain an abortion in Ireland. The claim of the three women against Ireland will shortly be heard before a full hearing of the grand chamber of seventeen judges of the ECHR.
A decision on the part of the ECHR is considered to be binding on the State involved. A ruling by the same court within the last few years, in the ‘Tysiac’ case, resulted in Poland being instructed to guarantee access to legal abortions.
