Legislation likely to be challenged in future: Lynch

The limited nature of planned abortion legislation means the issue is likely to be subject to a future court challenge by a woman pregnant as a result of rape or a carrying a foetus that has no chance of survival, according to Kathleen Lynch, the Junior Health Minister.

But she said the coalition could not have gone any further in framing the bill — published last week — without putting the changes to the people in what would most likely be a divisive referendum campaign.

The Labour minister said there were measures her party would have liked to have seen in the legislation — but they had to be guided by the Supreme Court ruling on the X Case 21 years ago and the A, B and C ruling by the European Court of Human Rights.