Professor Siobhán Mullally:

Where the views of a pregnant woman differed from those of her physician, our position, which we have set out, is that the legislative and regulatory framework should provide for the circumstances in which there is a right of access to abortion. In that context, there would be an obligation to ensure that health care services were organised in such a way as to provide effective access to abortion in accordance with that legislative and regulatory framework. It should be possible to ensure that decisions are made in a timely way and that access is not theoretical but is practical and available to all without discrimination on grounds of socioeconomic circumstance or location. Going back to the question on socioeconomic circumstances, we have quoted from the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on ensuring universal access to health care and the right to the highest attainable standard of health as part of that reform.