X case and the letter of the law

Twenty years ago, the Supreme Court ruled a suicidal pregnant teenager had the right to an abortion. So why are we still in a legal quagmire without relevant legislation, asks Linda Kelly

WHERE were you on Feb 23, 1992? Celebrating the departure of Charles Haughey as Taoiseach? Maybe you had retired, or had started college? Maybe you were a newlywed, or maybe you were welcoming another child into your family? Or maybe you were like me, still at school and blissfully unaware of the court case that was rocking the nation. The X case, as it became known, divided the country in 1992, but does it still divide us in 2012?

It’s hard to believe it’s two decades since the details of the case, a tragic story of one Irish family, gripped the nation.