Jax died at 31 weeks in his mother’s womb as a result of careless driving causing a collision. Coroner John Leckey agreed that 31 people died as he believed Avril Monaghan’s twin babies, Eimear and Evelyn, were “living, healthy babies, though unborn”. Under Irish law, unless birth had happened, it could not be an officially recorded death, but a stillbirth. This leaves people whose babies were 398g or who were 22 weeks and six days still unable to register a stillbirth. Speaking about unborn babies and their right to be recognised as people who can be victims of a third party’s crime is likely to worry pro-choice people that this is a ploy to roll back abortion rights.

Source: The Irish Times March 09, 2026 16:57 UTC