Ireland Compensates Woman Forced to Travel to Britain to Receive Abortion

On November 30, the Irish government agreed to pay Amanda Mellet €30,000 compensation as a result of existing laws that forced her to seek abortion care in England to terminate a 2011 pregnancy after being advised that her fetus carried a fatal impairment that would prohibit it from surviving outside the womb.

In response to being forced to travel to England, Mellet took her case to the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC). That court ruled in June that in leaving Mellet with no option but to leave the country to receive treatment the Irish government has inflicted trauma and distress upon her and her partner.

Upon meeting with Mellet to discuss the terms of the settlement, Irish Minister of Health Simon Harris stated that he found Mellet’s case “deeply unsettling” and confirmed that the government had provided “and ex gratia sum of €30,000 Euros,” as well as access to “all appropriate psychological services.”