Creighton’s ‘legislation’ in line with X case

In her attack on Lucinda Creighton’s reported intention to draft legislation in line with the X-case, precluding a threat of suicide, Colette Browne (Opinion, Jan 16) was unable to distinguish between the Supreme Court’s definition of the law in article 40.3.3, and the court’s application of the law to the case presented to them.

Had Ms Browne read the judgement, instead of relying on the words of Catherine McGuinness she would know that the test in the X-case is whether there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother, a risk that could not be avoided.

The test is not whether the mother claims to be suicidal or not. Based on the evidence presented to them, the court concluded that a threat of suicide satisfied the requirement of the law they had just defined. However, according to the 2002 statement of the late Professor Anthony Clare, abortion is never the only way to avoid a risk of death through suicide in a pregnant woman.