Ms Leah Hoctor:

I believe I addressed this issue earlier as Deputy Clare Daly asked a similar question. The wording in question in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is in a preambular paragraph. It is not in an article or a provision. It states the child "by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care ... before as well as after birth". It is very clear from the drafting negotiations on the treaty that it was agreed by states that this provision did not mean that there was a right to life that would apply prenatally.

It was agreed that Article 1 of the treaty, enshrining the right to life, would apply from the time of birth and that is in line with the language of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It may be in a state's interests to take measures to protect prenatal life but human rights standards and jurisprudence have made it very clear that doing so cannot undermine the human rights of women. It is critical that states take an approach to law and policy around reproductive health care that places women's health and rights at the centre and works out from there.

I will have to check this but I believe that even the Holy See, in the negotiations of the convention on the rights of the child, understood that the language in the preamble did not prevent states from liberalising and legalising access to abortion care.