Report on abortion - Time has come to act

Tomorrow the Government is due to publish the report of the expert group that it commissioned to examine the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights on the absence of procedures to establish when an Irish woman has a right to have an abortion.

For over 20 years successive governments have shirked their duty to tackle this issue effectively.

The current Government has used the need to wait for the latest report as its excuse for not acting. Last week it refused to publish the report, but over the weekend it was leaked to at least two newspapers.