Irish MPs to vote next year on whether to allow limited abortion

The Irish government has said that it will legislate to allow abortion to be performed in limited circumstances in the Republic of Ireland.

It announced on 18 December 2012 that its preferred option for giving effect to a 1992 court judgment was a combination of legislation and regulation. The decision follows the recent publication of the report of an expert group tasked with advising on how to respond to a ruling of the European Court of Human Rights that found that Ireland had failed to provide for abortion in circumstances where a mother’s life was …