Three applicants, two Irish nationals and one Lithuanian national, travelled to the United Kingdom in 2005 to have an abortion, each applicant believing they were not entitled to an abortion in Ireland. The first applicant decided to have an abortion to avoid jeopardizing her chances of reuniting her four previous children who were in foster …Read more

This case is an appeal from the High Court. An appeal from this case was dismissed by the Supreme Court in [2012] NZSC 68. A cross-appeal was filed by the respondent, the Right to Life New Zealand Inc (RTL), which asserted the lower court erred by finding the unborn child had no right to life and …Read more

The QPC (Question prioritaire de constitutionnalité) process was created in France in 2008. It allows for preliminary rulings on the conformity of a legal provision with the Constitution. This disposition challenged the 2002 law (Paragraph I of section 1 of the Act of March 4th 2002) that states “No one shall claim he has sustained …Read more

Plaintiff went to the hospital to obtain an amniocentesis, which reported a karyotype of 46, XY normal. Upon plaintiff’s son’s birth, 6 months later, doctors suspected the child suffered from Down syndrome. Testing of the child’s blood revealed a karyotype of 47 XY +21. Rechecking the original amniotic fluid also found an abnormality. The error …Read more

The applicants, Mr. Eulalio and Mrs. Ariadna worked as nurses at the Prison of Albacete. The prison had, allegedly, implemented the so-called Syringe Exchange Program (“Program”), a public health program developed by the Penitentiary Health General Sub-Directorate. The experimental Program was launched with the objective of preventing the transmission of diseases between inmates by, among …Read more

A girl allegedly raped claimed for abortion under the art. 86 (2) of the Criminal Code of Argentina, which excluded women from criminal liability when they have been raped and they were mentally disabled.  The girl had no disabilities. The First Instance Court authorized the abortion and, fifteen minutes later, gave notice to mass media. …Read more

The appellants, parents of a child with microephaly disorder, alleged medical malpractice in that the failure of medical services to identify and inform them of their daughter’s condition during the pregnancy denied them the choice to terminate that pregnancy. In July of 2001, the appellants’ daughter was born and the appellants were informed that she …Read more

The petitioner, a Colombian national, filed a tutela (an appeal for legal protection) on behalf of his partner who was 19 weeks pregnant. The petitioner’s partner underwent examination and discovered that the fetus exhibited serious malformations that made the fetus unviable. Despite the advice of a board of specialists to terminate the pregnancy, the local health …Read more

The law applicable to abortion and medically induced miscarriages in Northern Ireland was a 19th century law (the Offences against the Person Act 1861), which made it a crime to procure a miscarriage. Courts had interpreted this principle to decide that if a person who procured the abortion acted in good faith for the purpose …Read more

In an earlier decision – Right to Life New Zealand Inc v the Abortion Supervisory Committee [2008] NZHC 865 – the presiding judge reserved his opinion on whether he ought to order declaratory relief in favour of the applicant, Right to Life New Zealand Inc (RTL). In that case RTL successfully argued that the respondent, …Read more