Ireland United for Life has confirmed that Luca Volontè
a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has challenged the Committee of Ministers of the Assembley on Imposing
abortion in Ireland.
Whilst Irish members have stayed silent, Mr. Volontè, representing
the Italian Group of the European People’s Party, in a written question to the
Council of Ministers, states that the Irish people have rejected the
legalisation of abortion three times. The written question can be found on this link.
The written question also says:
Therefore, why did the Committee of Ministers decide to give “precedence” to this case, when so many important cases of violations of human rights guaranteed by the Convention are treated under the ordinary procedure?The European Court of Human Rights affirmed several times that the European Convention does not contain a right to abortion but a right to life; the Court also specified that prenatal life is not excluded in principle from the scope of protection of the Convention and that it belongs to each State within its margin of appreciation to decide when life begins.Following the A., B. and C. v. Ireland case of 16 December 2010, Ireland is the target of an international campaign pressuring it to liberalise abortion. It is obvious that the Convention system is being used in order to impose an obligation that was never part of the Treaty and that is moreover contrary to the original intention of its drafters Mr. Volontè, has challenged Committee of Ministers,
- how can a country be pressured to legalise abortion in the name of a Convention which does not enshrine a right to abortion ?
- does the Committee of Ministers envisage that such ultra vires practices may ultimately undermine the authority of the Council of Europe?
- Ireland is among the safest countries in the world in respect of maternal services.
Ireland's Members of the Parliament now need to speak out and support Mr. Volontè