On 17 July 2017, I received a reply (E-003367/2017) to my written question (E-003367-17) in which Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis wrote: ‘The Commission acknowledges the differences in the EU Member States’ national policies and laws with regard to abortion, on which there is no EU policy or legislation’.

Asked about the issue of abortion in an interview published by The Irish Independent on 13 January 2018, Commissioner Margrethe Vestager — who should also take into account the ECJ ruling on human dignity in the prenatal phase of life — spoke about how she considered abortion to be a ‘right’ for women. Given that abortion is illegal in Ireland under the Irish Constitution, which guarantees the right to life of the unborn child: