Europe's human rights court to rule on Irish abortion case

The first – a Lithuanian - chose to terminate the pregnancy because she had recently been treated for cancer and a baby could have brought the disease back and be born with cancer itself. The other two were both Irish, one at risk of an extrauterine pregnancy, while the other had a drinking problem and already four children placed in foster care. She sought an abortion to avoid jeopardising her chances of re-uniting the family.

Ireland's anti-abortion law dates back to 1861 and was re-confirmed in a referendum 26 years ago. The "right to life of the unborn" is enshrined in the constitution.

According to the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) at least 138,000 women have travelled abroad, mainly to England, since 1980 to obtain abortions.

Fears that the EU would impose abortion rights and override Dublin's sovereignty on the matter were stirred up ahead of the referendum for the Lisbon Treaty. After an initial no-vote, the Irish government sought legal guarantees that the pro-life legislation would stay untouched by Europe's human rights charter.

Ireland's attorney general, Paul Gallagher, led the defence team in Strasbourg, arguing that right to life extended to the foetus and that the complaint was based on "legal and factual propositions which, when analysed, cannot be supported".

Despite the increased media attention, the Strasbourg court is highly unlikely to rule against the national legislation.

In a similar case dating back to 2007, the court ruled that Poland had violated the European Convention by denying a woman a "therapeutic" abortion that allegedly would have saved her eyesight.

The woman at the time had obtained a certificate from a general practitioner as a prerequisite to obtaining an abortion allowable under Polish law, which remains among Europe's most restrictive.

Five medical experts overruled the general practitioner, determining that the ongoing deterioration in eyesight was unrelated to her pregnancy - a finding seconded post-delivery by a review panel of three additional experts. Despite this, as the dissent pointed out, the ECHR credited the one generalist's opinion over that of eight experts to reach the desired result.

However, unlike Poland, where abortion is not punished by prison, the law in Ireland is more draconician.

The Strasbourg court's rulings are binding. However, the only sanction for non-compliance is the expulsion of the country from the Council of Europe, a non-executive organisation focusing on human rights, which includes countries outside the EU, such as Russia.