WHO: ADF Legal Counsel Roger Kiska and ADF Senior Counsel Glen Lavy

WHAT: Available for media interviews following hearing in landmark abortion case A, B, and C v. Ireland

WHEN: Wednesday, Dec. 9, immediately after the hearing, which begins at 9:15 a.m. CET (3:15 a.m. EST)

WHERE: Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg, France

STRASBOURG, France — Alliance Defense Fund Legal Counsel Roger Kiska and ADF Senior Counsel Glen Lavy will be available for media interviews Wednesday following a hearing in the lawsuit A, B, and C v. Ireland, which has been dubbed the Roe v. Wade case of Europe. ADF attorneys are defending legal protections for pre-born children on behalf of the Family Research Council in the European Court of Human Rights against three women who were denied abortions in Ireland and then sued to have the country’s constitutional amendment protecting innocent life abolished.

Because the lawsuit will be decided in the Grand Chamber of the ECHR, the ruling will be binding on all lower chambers and member states, making the case pivotal for Europe with implications that could be felt globally.

“No one should be allowed to decide that an innocent life is worthless,” said Kiska, who is based in Europe. “Ireland’s constitutional amendment defending innocent life is under attack, and the stakes are high for all of Europe.”

“The case is not only pivotal to Europe; it is pivotal to America as well,” Lavy added. “With ever-greater frequency, American courts consider what other countries are doing when deciding their own cases. Because this case could be the Roe v. Wade of Europe, its impact upon the U.S. should not be underestimated.”

Three women who sought abortions in Ireland sued under the European Convention on Human Rights to overturn the country’s legal protections for pre-born children. The three, who ultimately obtained abortions in Britain, are fighting to establish a “right” to abortion in Ireland. Currently, abortions are permitted in Ireland only when it is necessary to save the life of the mother. The women are also seeking a precedent that would open the door to abortion as a right across all of Europe under the European Convention on Human Rights.

ADF and FRC filed a joint brief in November 2008 with two other pro-life organizations at the court’s request after it allowed the groups to intervene as defendants in the case.