The court said it did not have the jurisdiction to make a formal declaration that the law should be changed, and ruled that the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) had no right to bring its case against the abortion law. She added: "While the court made no formal declaration, a majority of judges stated their view that the laws of abortion in Northern Ireland are incompatible with article eight of the European Convention of Human Rights. “I would have concluded, without real hesitation at the end of the day, that the current Northern Ireland law is incompatible with article 8 of the [European human rights] convention insofar as it prohibits abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormality, rape and incest but not insofar as it prohibits abortion in cases of serious foetal abnormality.” Three other judges agreed with him on that point, he added. She said May has an obligation to make sure the U.K. government is “now longer acting unlawfully by breaching the human rights of women across Northern Ireland.”

However, the fact that the Supreme Court dismissed the case because of doubts about the Human Rights Commission’s right to bring it means the judges’ views on the anti-abortion laws do not have legal force, which is reassuring for abortion foes.
The Supreme Court of the UK dismisses a legal challenge by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission of the restrictive Northern Ireland abortion laws, as the court has no jurisdiction in this specific case. Four of seven judges note that these laws are incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights "in prohibiting abortion in cases of rape and incest and fatal foetal abnormality", a matter of right to respect for private and family life guaranteed by the Convention.