C Case

Last updated
C Case
CourtHigh Court (Ireland)
Full case nameA and B, Applicants, v. Eastern Health Board, District Judge Mary Fahy and C, Respondents and The Attorney General, Notice Party
Started28 November 1997 (1997-11-28)
Decided25 November 1997 (1997-11-25)
Citation[1998] 1 IR 464; [1998] 1 ILRM 460
Court membership
Judge sitting Hugh Geoghegan
Keywords
  • Abortion
  • Right to travel
  • Right to life
  • Constitution of Ireland

A and B v Eastern Health Board, commonly known as the C Case, was a legal case in Ireland on whether a thirteen-year-old girl (known as C), who had become pregnant as a result of rape and was suicidal, could be permitted to travel abroad to obtain an abortion. She was in the care of the Eastern Health Board (EHB), an organ of the Irish state, and the abortion was resisted by her parents, the applicants in the case. Abortion law in Ireland at the time of the case made abortion inaccessible within Ireland; however, in the X Case (1992), the Supreme Court had ruled that abortion was permissible under the Constitution where there was a threat to a woman's life, including a risk of suicide.

Contents

Facts

Ms C was brutally raped by an adult male (Simon McGinley) on 27 August 1997, and became pregnant as a result. She is a member of the travelling community and one of a family of twelve. The perpetrator was also of the travelling community and a long-standing friend of the family. The evidence before the District Court indicated that she lived in particularly squalid conditions which were quite unlike the conditions in which most Travellers lived. The court believed that the girl was very severely traumatised by the rape. The girl was in the care of the Eastern Health Board (EHB) under the Child Care Act 1991. She had become suicidal and the EHB made a court application to bring her to the UK for an abortion. [1]

Law

Abortion was illegal in Ireland at the time of the case. It was prohibited under sections 58 and 59 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861, and Article 40.3.3° of the Constitution of Ireland protected the right to life of the unborn. The substantive clause was added by the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution in 1983. A further clause was added by the Thirteenth Amendment in 1992 in response to the X Case, protecting the freedom to travel to another state to obtain an abortion.

Court case

On 21 November 1997, the District Court made an order that C could leave the state. [1] The parents challenged this order in the High Court. Judge Hugh Geoghegan upheld the original order, allowing the EHB to bring her to the UK for an abortion. [1] [2] The court relied on the judgment in the X Case and on the Thirteenth Amendment.

Aftermath

Ms C had an abortion in the UK in December 1997, accompanied by two officers from the Garda Síochána and her EHB guardian. [3] Her parents were opposed to the abortion, and communicated regularly with Youth Defence. [3]

On 18 December 1998, Simon McGinley was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment after pleading guilty to the rape of thirteen-year-old Ms. C, with Judge John Quirke suspending the final four years on condition that McGinley undergo sex offenders therapy in prison. [4]

Reaction

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Desmond Connell, strongly criticised the ruling; [5] [6] [7] however, he declined to fund a Supreme Court challenge. [8]

I have many concerns about the decision... I have deep reservations about the re-affirmation by the courts of the notion that there are circumstances where abortion is medically justifiable. The testimony in the X Case, relating to suicidal tendencies, was already controversial.

—  Desmond Connell, "Archbishop's deep sadness at 'amazing' court decision". Irish Independent. 29 November 1997. p. 13.

Archbishop Connell claimed that abortion caused mental health problems:

at a psychiatric level, abortion would appear to cause more problems than it solves, even were we to judge the issue on its medical implications alone. One this last point, it is clear from the significant risk of psychological problems following abortion, particularly among those who have abortions in their teens or who are ambivalent and/or unsupported, that this unhappy child would be better served if she received the highest degree of medical and psychological support along with the continuation of her pregnancy.

—  Desmond Connell, "Archbishop's deep sadness at 'amazing' court decision". Irish Independent. 29 November 1997. p. 13.

Youth Defence picketed the home of EHB Chair Róisín Shortall because she did not stop the case. [9]

The Pro Life Campaign criticised the EHB, and called for a full inquiry. [10]

Legacy

The woman at the centre of the case has occasionally spoken about her experiences, but not revealed her identity. She found the abortion traumatic, and did not understand what was going on at the time. She did not know that she would be getting an abortion, and thought that the hospital was going to deliver her baby. She eventually named and sought a death certificate for the aborted child. She has expressed that she wishes the child would have been put up for adoption. She made numerous attempts on her own life following the procedure, but eventually gave birth to a son who helps keep her mentally stable. [11] [12] [13]

It has been living with me, still to this day it’s living with me. There is still stuff to this day with nightmares, I can’t sleep and I’m on medication. I’m still living in fear, fear all the time. No one understands how you feel, how a rape victim feels after being raped. It never goes away no matter how people say it does. It lives with you constantly. Fears and everything that goes with, the nightmares, the whole lot

— C

Post Trial Developments

Simon McGinley was released from Arbour Hill Prison in November 2003. [14] In 2009, McGinley was sentenced to 21 years in prison after being found guilty of the rape of an 86-year-old woman in Monaghan the previous year. [15] McGinley was again released from Arbour Hill prison in September 2022 and thereafter moved to the Dundalk area, [16] with the conditions of his release resulting in him being banned from engaging in door-to-door sales and from cold calling to stranger's houses. [17]

McGinley was remanded in custody to Cloverhill Prison in August 2023 after alleged breaches of the conditions of his release, relating to him cold calling to a house regarding the sale of a car and intimidating a teenage girl who lived there. McGinley was also accused of breaching the conditions of the Sex Offenders Act in February 2023 at an address in Skerries, where he was caught power washing the driveway of an elderly lady. [17] In January 2024, McGinley pleaded guilty to breaching the conditions of his release and had the 15-month suspended sentence imposed from his 2009 rape conviction activated by Dundalk Circuit Court.[ citation needed ]

The 2018 abortion referendum, held in May 2018, approved an amendment replacing the wording of Article 40.3.3° with a permissive clause allowing legislation by the Oireachtas. Legislation regulating abortion, the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018, was enacted in December 2018. Abortion services began on 1 January 2019.

See also

Related Research Articles

Abortion in Ireland is regulated by the Health Act 2018. Abortion is permitted in Ireland during the first twelve weeks of pregnancy, and later in cases where the pregnant woman's life or health is at risk, or in the cases of a fatal foetal abnormality. Abortion services commenced on 1 January 2019, following its legalisation by the aforementioned Act, which became law on 20 December 2018. Previously, the 8th Constitutional Amendment had given the life of the unborn foetus the same value as that of its mother, but the 36th constitutional amendment, approved by referendum in May 2018, replaced this with a clause permitting the Oireachtas (parliament) to legislate for the termination of pregnancies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">X Case</span> Irish court case permitting abortion in exceptional circumstances

Attorney General v X [1992] 1 IR 1 was a judgment of the Irish Supreme Court which established the right of Irish women to an abortion if a pregnant woman's life was at risk because of pregnancy, including the risk of suicide.

Many jurisdictions have laws applying to minors and abortion. These parental involvement laws require that one or more parents consent or be informed before their minor daughter may legally have an abortion.

Rape by gender classifies types of rape by the sex and gender of both the rapist and the victim. This scope includes both rape and sexual assault more generally. Most research indicates that rape affects women disproportionately, with the majority of people convicted being men; however, since the broadening of the definition of rape in 2012 by the FBI, more attention is being given to male rape, including females raping males.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Hannah Williams</span> Schoolgirl murdered in London, England

On 21 April 2001, Hannah Williams, a 14-year-old English schoolgirl was murdered after going missing during a shopping trip in Dartford, Kent. Williams's body was discovered on 15 March 2002 at a cement works in an industrial area of Northfleet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rape</span> Type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse without consent

Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person who is incapable of giving valid consent, such as one who is unconscious, incapacitated, has an intellectual disability, or is below the legal age of consent. The term rape is sometimes casually inaccurately used interchangeably with the term sexual assault.

Antoni Imiela was a German-born convicted serial rapist who grew up in County Durham, England. He was found guilty of the rape of nine women and girls, and the indecent assault, and attempted rape, of a 10-year-old girl whom he repeatedly punched and throttled. The crimes took place in Surrey, Kent, Berkshire, London, Hertfordshire and Birmingham, and the press dubbed the offender the M25 Rapist after the M25 motorway that passes in the vicinity of all those areas except Birmingham. He died in HM Prison Wakefield on 8 March 2018.

Abortion is illegal in El Salvador. The law formerly permitted an abortion to be performed under some limited circumstances, but in 1998 all exceptions were removed when a new abortion law went into effect.

The timeline of women's legal rights (other than voting) represents formal changes and reforms regarding women's rights. The changes include actual law reforms, as well as other formal changes (e.g., reforms through new interpretations of laws by precedents). The right to vote is exempted from the timeline: for that right, see Timeline of women's suffrage. The timeline excludes ideological changes and events within feminism and antifeminism; for that, see Timeline of feminism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin</span> Sexual abuse cases in Ireland

The sexual abuse cases in Dublin archdiocese are major chapters in the series of Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Ireland. The Irish government commissioned a statutory enquiry in 2006 that published the Murphy Report in November 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desmond Connell</span> Irish cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church

Desmond Connell was an Irish cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. He was an Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland. Cardinal Connell was one of a number of senior clergy to have been heavily criticised for inaction, making misleading statements and covering up clerical sex abuse in Dublin. He died on 21 February 2017, aged 90.

Larry Murphy is an Irish convicted felon. After his conviction for kidnapping, repeatedly raping, and attempted murder of a young Carlow woman on 11 February 2000, in the Wicklow Mountains, he was jailed in January 2001. His release from prison less than 10 years later drew widespread criticism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Youth Defence</span> Irish anti-abortion organisation

Youth Defence is an Irish organisation that opposes legalisation of abortion. It was founded in 1986, lay dormant, and was reformed in 1992 following the judgment in the X Case. It shared offices with the Eurosceptic group Cóir, but is not openly aligned to any specific political party. It is linked to neo-fascist organisations in Italy, Germany and Great Britain.

Punishment for rape in Pakistan under the Pakistani laws is either death penalty or imprisonment of between ten and twenty-five years. For cases related to gang rape, the punishment is either death penalty or life imprisonment. DNA test and other scientific evidence are used in prosecuting rape cases in Pakistan.

Pregnancy is a potential result of rape. It has been studied in the context of war, particularly as a tool for genocide, as well as in other unrelated contexts, such as rape by a stranger, statutory rape, incest, and underage pregnancy. The scientific consensus is that rape is at least as likely to lead to pregnancy as consensual sexual intercourse, with some studies suggesting rape may actually result in higher rates of pregnancy than consensual intercourse.

In 2009, a 9-year-old Brazilian girl was repeatedly raped by her stepfather and became pregnant with twins; the girl's mother helped her procure an abortion, and the pregnancy was terminated. José Sobrinho, a Catholic archbishop, said that the girl's mother and the doctors who performed the abortion had been automatically excommunicated under canon law. This prompted an array of national and international criticism for the archbishop's actions. In response, the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil declared that no one was excommunicated in the case, and in an article published in L'Osservatore Romano, a bioethicist of the Holy See rebuked the archbishop for his public statement.

Y is a woman who unsuccessfully sought to have an abortion in the Republic of Ireland in 2014. She is an asylum seeker who arrived in Ireland and became suicidal after discovering she was pregnant as a result of a rape in her home country. At the time, Ireland's abortion laws limited abortion in nearly all cases. She was unable to travel to the UK for an abortion, and after a hunger strike the High Court granted an order to hydrate her against her will. After the 1992 X Case judgement, abortion should be legal in cases of suicide, and the then newly introduced Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 allows abortion in those cases. Her baby was delivered via caesarian section, but there was controversy over whether the government handled the case appropriately.

A marry-your-rapist law, marry-the-rapist law, or rape-marriage law is a rule of rape law in a jurisdiction under which a man who commits rape, sexual assault, statutory rape, abduction or other similar act is exonerated if he marries his female victim, or in some jurisdictions at least offers to marry her. The "marry-your-rapist" law is a legal way for the accused to avoid prosecution or punishment.

Timeline of women's legal rights (other than voting) represents formal changes and reforms regarding women's rights. That includes actual law reforms as well as other formal changes, such as reforms through new interpretations of laws by precedents. The right to vote is exempted from the timeline: for that right, see Timeline of women's suffrage. The timeline also excludes ideological changes and events within feminism and antifeminism: for that, see Timeline of feminism.

On June 30, 2022, a ten-year-old girl from Columbus, Ohio, United States, traveled to Indiana to get an abortion because abortion law in Ohio did not provide an exception for minor children who became pregnant because of rape. Her case drew national attention and commentary from public figures, due in part to its proximity to the June 24, 2022, decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed states, including Ohio, to impose substantial limitations on abortion.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "A. and B. v. Eastern Health Board [1997] IEHC 176; [1998] 1 IR 464; [1998] 1 ILRM 460 (28 November, 1997)".
  2. ↑ "After the C Case". The Irish Times. 29 November 1997. p. 17.
  3. 1 2 Newman, Christine (4 December 1997). "13-year-old rape victim had abortion in England yesterday". The Irish Times. p. 4. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  4. ↑ Mac Ruairi, Tomas (18 December 1998). "Judge jails C case rapist for 'dreadful evil act'". Irish Independent. p. 7. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "Connell criticises court's decision". The Irish Times. 29 November 1997. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  6. ↑ Connell, Desmond (29 November 1997). "Archbishop's deep sadness at 'amazing' court decision". Irish Independent. p. 13.
  7. ↑ O'Regan, Eilish; Maddock, John; Glennon, Chris (29 November 1997). "Church alarm at girl's abortion freedom". Irish Independent. p. 1.
  8. ↑ McKenna, Gene; O'Toole, Bernie (1 December 1997). "Archbishop rejects plea to fund abortion challenge". Irish Independent. p. 1.
  9. ↑ Coulter, Carol (5 December 1997). "Youth Defence plans more protests". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  10. ↑ Kennedy, Geraldine (18 December 1997). "Pro-Life Campaign wants inquiry on health board's handling of C case". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  11. ↑ O'Doherty, Gemma (5 May 2013). "C-Case mum: I grieve for my lost baby every day". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  12. ↑ "C-CASE GIRL SPEAKS OUT". Life Institute. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  13. ↑ "'Still to this day it's living with me ... I'm still living in fear, fear all the time'". The Irish Times. 18 July 2009. p. 9. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  14. ↑ "'C Case' rapist jailed for 21 years". Irish Examiner. 15 July 2009.
  15. ↑ Holland, Kitty (18 July 2009). "21-year sentence 'was a bit of relief". The Irish Times. p. 9. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
  16. ↑ "Notorious double rapist Simon McGinley back on road in battered jeep after prison release". Sunday World. 15 November 2022.
  17. 1 2 "Double rapist Simon McGinley has charge struck out after witness fails to show up in court". Sunday World. 5 January 2024.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.