Future Uncertain After Ruling on Ireland's Abortion Ban

TIME: After Ruling, Will Ireland Ease Its Abortion Ban?, by Genevieve Carbery:

A ruling on the case of a woman known only as C has reignited the long-running and divisive abortion debate in Ireland. On Dec. 16, the European Court of Human Rights found that C, a cancer survivor, had her human rights violated when she was forced to travel to England to get an abortion. Now, overwhelmingly Catholic Ireland finds itself having to clarify a law that is sure to become a contentious issue in the looming election.

In cases that date back to 2005, three women — known as A, B, and C — went to the European court with the allegation that a lack of abortion services in Ireland was a breach of their human rights. On Thursday, the court rejected the cases of two of the women, but ruled in favor of C, who was living in Ireland and recovering from a rare form of cancer when she became pregnant. She feared that her cancer would return if she continued with her pregnancy, but no doctor was willing to tell her that her life was at risk if she carried the baby to term — and a threat to the mother's life is the only situation in which abortion is legal in Ireland. . . .