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When does life begin? This is the fundamental question related to the right to life discussion when considering the very beginning of when human life is recognised; the moment in which Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) becomes effective in its function of protecting human beings.
European context
The issues of abortion is often discussed due to a lack of consensus among European states. In fact, Article 2 of the ECHR doesn’t recognise an absolute right to life and the wording of the Article itself guarantees a wide margin of appreciation to States when considering abortion. Therefore, it’s currently up to each State to determine when the foetus is considered a human being and when, consequently, abortion becomes an illegal medical practice within that specific legal system. Each State, thus, implements national laws regarding abortion and the fine line between the definition of legality and illegality of this deeply sensitive issue is drawn within the boarders of the country’s legislative powers. When dealing with abortion, there is a high risk of oversimplifying the issue since there is no black or white: the development of the foetus as well as the concurring rights of the mother and many other circumstances have to be taken into account. Currently, most countries in the European Union allow abortion on demand during the first trimester. After the first trimester, abortion is only legal under specific circumstances such as when the mother’s life or health is at risk, fetal defects or other factors. It will be completely up to the single country to determine what circumstances might affect abortion after the first trimester. For instance, Denmark allows the practice after 90 days for a number of reasons including socioeconomic ones.
Therefore, when considering abortion and the different legal frameworks that shape and mould the way in which the practice is governed, political issues play a relevant role. Depending on the political trend of the Government of a specific country, abortion will be more or less likely to be taken into account in the political agenda. A more conservative country will be less willing to legalise abortion, whilst a more liberal one (like Denmark, cited above) will be more lenient on the matter. The highly political character of abortion shows the malleability of the issue: laws as well as Governments are constantly changing and the progress (or regress) of the issues is continuously in divenire. Portugal, for example, has recently changed its legislation and finally Parliament adopted in March 2007 a bill legalizing abortion until the tenth week of pregnancy. On February of the same year, the Portuguese had voted by referendum and 59.3% of voters had said, "yes" against 40.8% for "no." This legislation was a turning point in the history of Portugal, considering that the previous Portuguese legislation was among the most repressive in the EU.
Apart from legal and political concerns, the sensitive and delicate issue of abortion has to be considered in relation to the traditions, different cultures and moral values of each State. This is, arguably, one of the main reasons why the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has left a wide margin of appreciation to States in consideration of abortion. Religious beliefs, especially, deeply affect the way in which ‘life’, as a concept, is dealt with. Going back to the fundamental question of ‘when does life begin?’, it could be argued by many believers that their religion embraces the idea of conception as the beginning of life. For these communities, therefore, the idea of legalizing abortion in their own countries can become very problematic and controversial. Evidently, striking a balance in these instances can be extremely difficult. The approaches can be very diverse and many aspects of different cultures shine through.
The Irish case
The case of the Republic of Ireland represents a unique one in Europe due to the severe norms and punitive laws regulating abortion. In Ireland, another Catholic country, abortion was prohibited in the 1983 Constitution. However, ever since, legislation has eased the original provisions and currently abortion is legal in Ireland only if the life of the mother is endangered (as established by Protection of Life During Pregancy Act 2013). Women who are pregnant as a result of rape or incest face prison if they seek an abortion, as do those carrying a foetus that has no chance of survival. Instead, they must carry the pregnancy to term, with no regard for their mental or physical wellbeing, and the psychological impact on themselves and their partners. Irish law is clearly denying its women and girls their right to life, health, privacy, non-discrimination, information, free speech and freedom from torture through its restrictive and punitive laws, as the case of A, B and C v Ireland shows. In this case, the ECtHR found violation of Article 8 of the Convention and held that Ireland failed to provide women with adequate and accessible procedure to find out whether legal abortion was necessary.
The criminalisation of abortions in Ireland leads to a widespread phenomenon of women traveling abroad to abort. As Amnesty International reported, every day, at least 10 women and girls travel from Ireland to England for an abortion. One of them stated: "You feel like a criminal. I am a law-abiding citizen and I felt like I was committing a crime, like I was smuggling drugs across the border.”
The Irish case sheds light on an important aspect: when discussing right to life related to abortion it’s not just the rights of the baby that are at stake, the mother’s rights are in need of protection too. As the Guardian reported: “Legal protections for European citizens are often traced back to the Declaration of the Rights of Man. If the rights of women had instead been declared with the same force throughout history, today's European abortion laws would surely look very different.” Thus, I believe that when approaching abortion laws and right to life the attitudes should be different. Possibly, we should consider the issue from the point of view of the mother, the person actually carrying a foetus or a baby, trying to understand her reasons for wanting to abort. So, when does life begin? The biological and scientific explanations, as well as the religious ones, appear to have little or no importance if we state that life begins when a woman decides to give birth to a new human being in respect of her rights as well as the ones of the newborn child. This is the approach that should be adopted not only by national powers, but also by the ECtHR as an institution with the power of deeply affecting European States. Broadening the horizons of the ECtHR and adopting an all encompassing and progressive approach will be the first step to finally bring effective change and fully protect the human rights at stake.