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DUBLIN - A woman lost her fight to have a child without the consent of her estranged husband today when an Irish judge ruled frozen embryos did not enjoy the same constitutional right to life as those carried in the womb.
Justice Brian McGovern said most agreed frozen embryos resulting from infertility treatment deserved special respect but ruled "the right to life of the unborn" in the Irish constitution did not extend to them.
"I have come to the conclusion that the three frozen embryos are not 'unborn'," the judge said in a landmark High Court ruling complicated by the fact that existing legislation does not define "unborn".
"There has been no evidence ... to establish that it was ever in the mind of the people voting on the Eight Amendment to the Constitution that 'unborn' meant anything other than a foetus or child within the womb," McGovern added.
The judgment means spare embryos frozen after successful in vitro fertilisation (IVF) in 2002 will not be returned to the mother.
She had argued an embryo's right to life meant she could be implanted with them despite the objections of her clinic and of a husband who left her four years ago. The couple are separated but remain man and wife.
The case has sparked heated debate in predominantly Catholic Ireland where abortion is outlawed except in cases where the mother's life could be endangered.
Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said the case raised "serious concerns" about the level of protection afforded to human life under the Irish constitution.
"Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception," Martin said in a statement, referring to the Catholic Church's doctrine on human life.
"From the first moment of his or her existence, a human being must be recognised as having the rights of a person."
McGovern, who has asked the media not to reveal the identity of the couple, acknowledged there was much disagreement about when life begins but that he could not resolve that issue.
"What is clear is that a debate which has existed over centuries continues to this day even with the major advances which have been made in medicine and science," he said.
"Even within different religions, there can be disagreements as to when genetic material becomes a 'human being'. But it is not the function of the courts to choose between competing religious and moral beliefs."
It was now up to Irish lawmakers to decide what steps should be taken to establish the legal status of embryos resulting from IVF treatment, he said.
The woman was married in March 1992 and had a son in 1997. She lost two thirds of her right ovary during the removal of a cyst shortly after the birth and had a daughter in October 2002 following the IVF treatment.
- REUTERS
