Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Health if he has read the pastoral letter The Right to Life that was read at all Catholic masses on 9 December 2012 that states the State is not obliged to legislate for abortion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56526/12]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I have read this pastoral letter and share many of the principles outlined therein. However, I am obliged to point out that its interpretation of the State's obligation in relation to the implementation of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in A, B and C v Ireland is incorrect. The State is under a legal obligation to implement the judgment and therefore to put in place an accessible and effective procedure in law to establish whether a woman who claims that her pregnancy gives rise to a real and substantial risk to her life which can only be averted by terminating the pregnancy, is entitled to an abortion, having regard to Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution and the judgment of the Supreme Court in the X case; and remove the uncertainty arising from the fact that ss. 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Persons Act, 1861, which have been producing a ‘chilling effect’ whereby the exercise of clinical judgment has the potential to give rise to criminal prosecution.