An Irish High Court judge has ruled that the rights of the unborn extend “well beyond the right to life alone”, and that those rights are “significant”.
The ruling, by Justice Richard Humphries comes as part of a protracted deportation case.
In the case under review, the state had, in 2008, secured a deportation order for a Nigerian man, who was attempting to claim refugee status. The man’s deportation was delayed with a series of appeals, and then became subject to a judicial review.
The man had, at the time of his application for residence, fathered a child, as yet unborn, with an Irish woman with whom he is still partnered. The rights of the child at this time have an impact on the strength of his case to stay in the country.
