Abortion referendum wording postponed until after Supreme Court ruling on ‘unborn’ rights

The court is considering the meaning of the word “unborn” in the Constitution following a High Court ruling in which Mr Justice Richard Humphreys granted leave to a Nigerian man, his Irish partner and their one-year-old child for a judicial review over his planned deportation. He said the Justice Minister erred by failing to consider the couple’s then-unborn child’s rights beyond the “right to life”.

The judge found that article 40 establishes an unborn child as a child, and therefore article 42a – introduced after the children’s referendum in 2012 – confers rights to children “both before and after birth”.

The Irish Times reports ministers are awaiting the Supreme Court’s ruling before finalising the wording of the referendum out of fear they will “publish it and then have to change it because of the judgment”.