Ruling against foetus rights
2004-07-08 13:17
Strasbourg - The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Thursday that the involuntary abortion of a foetus does not constitute manslaughter, setting a precedent on the legal status of unborn babies that will be applied across European countries.
The court said foetuses could not be legally considered human beings with a corresponding right to life by rejecting a Frenchwoman's claim a hospital committed manslaughter in carrying out an abortion six months into her pregnancy following a medical error.
A contrary judgement could have opened the door to abortions being ruled illegal in Europe.
The ruling, however, stopped short of determining whether a foetus was a person or not, saying such a distinction was impossible to make.
The case involved Thi-Nho Vo, a 36-year-old of Vietnamese origin, who lost her baby in 1991 after a patient mix-up in which hospital staff confused her with another woman who was to have an intrauterine contraceptive device removed.
The erroneous surgery led to the rupture of the water sac protecting the foetus, forcing the doctor to carry out an emergency abortion.
After taking the hospital to court on manslaughter charges and losing in France, Thi-Nho's lawyer lodged the case at the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that the foetus was entitled to protection under the European convention article upholding a right to life.
But in its ruling, decided by 14 judges to three, the court decided that such protection could not be extended to foetuses.