Supreme Court to consider whether ‘unborn children have rights beyond right to life’
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The Supreme Court will hear an appeal by the State over a High Court ruling that the Constitution confers significant rights upon the “unborn child” beyond the right to life, The Irish Times reports.
It concerns findings made by Mr Justice Richard Humphreys in 2016 as he granted leave to a Nigerian man, his Irish partner and their one-year-old child for a judicial review over his planned deportation.
The judge said the Justice Minister erred by failing to consider the couple’s then-unborn child’s rights beyond the “right to life”.
He 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 State is seeking clarity on the extent of the constitutional rights of the unborn due to conflicting judgments on the subject.
A hearing date is expected to be fixed for next year.
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