Miscarrying woman denied an abortion dies in Ireland

Waldo_Jeffers said:
MEPs sign letter calling for Irish abortion legislation

Thistle said:
What do you mean exactly? How do the people of Northern Ireland feel about abortion?

Bill_the_Cat said:

The law responsible for this horrible occurrence is an Irish law, so I imagine the outrage is primarily aimed at the Irish Parliament. On the other hand abortion law in Northern Ireland is apparently also clear as mud and the tragedy has lead some in Northern Ireland to call for reforms there, as well.

This may be a bit off topic, but has anyone heard of symphysiotomy? I heard of the practice when I was in Ireland 10 years ago and was horrified.

Otoki said:

No. How doe people of Northern Ireland feel about a politician from Southern Ireland pushing for a law. Unless the MEP is only talking about Southern Ireland rather than having the law changed in Northern Ireland.

I just don't know what parts of Ireland this is actually aimed at, and what the political undertones may be.

Waldo_Jeffers said:

I would just like to add couple of points to clarify who is pushing for what and where...

An MEP is a Member of the European Parliament not the Irish or British parliament. Hence, although a politician from the Republic of Ireland (also referred to as Southern Ireland or Eire) has no jurisdiction within Northern Ireland, an MEP has influence throughout the EU.

However, the article which I linked to concerned MEPs, including Irish MEP Paul Murphy, pushing for a change to the law in the Republic of Ireland not Northern Ireland.

53 MEPs from 15 different EU member states signed the letter...
- the letter was addressed to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland and not to the First Minister of the Northern Ireland Assembly
- this letter has no legal force in the Republic of Ireland or indeed in any country and its recipient is at liberty to ignore it but it puts Ireland in the spotlight by demonstrating that there is concern right across the EU
- to put matters in perspective, there are in excess of 700 MEPs so 53, while significant, is not an exactly overwhelming figure (for all we know, there may be even more MEPs who think that Ireland's abortion laws are just and fair)

On another note, it is possible for someone to be involved in politics in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (or, at least, it is possible to move from one to the other). Consider Gerry Adams. He is the president of Sinn Fein (a party operating in both the North and South). He was a Northern Irish politician when he served as a UK Member of Parliament (elected to represent the Northern Irish constituency of Belfast West). He is now a Teachta Dála (Member of Parliament) in the Republic of Ireland.

skeptik said:
And today it was announced that the victim's widower will sue Ireland over her death.

If things work similarly in Ireland to how they do in the U.S., the speediest and most reliable way to get such a legal issue resolved is to get it into the courts. If it goes all the way to the Supreme Court, it should force the Irish Parliament to finally take the necessary action.