Abortion

POLICY

The IFPA believes that abortion is an intimate aspect of private life, intricately linked with human rights values and principles that protect a woman's sexual and reproductive rights. These rights include the right to health, life, privacy, nondiscrimination and to be free from cruel and degrading treatment. These values are unacceptably infringed upon by the criminalisation and inaccessibility of safe and legal abortion in Ireland. More
The IFPA supports the choices of women and girls with a crisis pregnancy in all circumstances.

SERVICES

The IFPA's nationwide counselling service provides a safe and confidential space for anyone to explore their feelings about their pregnancy and to discuss their options. Upon request, counsellors will provide information on abortion services in other countries. More. We also offer free post-abortion counselling and free post-abortion medical checkups. More

IRISH ABORTION LAW & POLICY

Abortion is legal in Ireland only when there is a real and substantial risk to life of the pregnant woman, this includes the risk of suicide. It is not against the law for women to travel abroad to access abortion services or access information on safe and legal abortion services in other countries. More

STATISTICS

Between January 1980 and December 2010, at least 147,881 women travelled from the Republic of Ireland for safe abortion services abroad. This section contains the official statistics on the number of women and girls who gave Republic of Ireland addresses at abortion clinics in England and Wales and the Netherlands. More

ABC v IRELAND AT THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Three women, supported by the IFPA, challenged Ireland's restrictive abortion laws at the European Court of Human Rights. In December 2011, the judges ruled unanimously Irish abortion law violates women's human rights. More

ABORTION & HUMAN RIGHTS

Access to safe and legal abortion services is a human rights issue. Irish abortion laws deny women and girls their most fundamental rights to live in dignity, to self determination and to exercise these rights without discrimination when access to abortion is criminalised in almost all circumstances. The Irish State has been consistently criticised by several international human rights bodies for its failure to legislate and regulate access to abortion services in violation of its obligations under several human rights treaties. More

RESOURCES

This section contains the ground-breaking publication of The Irish Journey where Irish women tell their stories of abortion. Further reading on abortion laws, policies and human rights standards in Ireland and internationally can also be found in this section. More