Amanda Mellet said it was her "sincere hope" that the findings of the UN Human Rights Committee in her case may assist the Government in "finding the courage to make necessary changes in law".
In a statement yesterday, Ms Mellet said she was “profoundly grateful to the Human Rights Committee for its decision and its clear recognition that my human rights were violated as a result of Ireland’s prohibition and criminalisation of abortion.
"The decision not only vindicates my rights. It also serves to uphold the rights of many other women in Ireland who have faced and continue to face human rights violations under the current legal regime."
Ms Mellet said she wished “ to finally leave behind these painful memories”.
“Hearing the committee’s findings today does help in my own healing, but my most sincere hope is that it may assist Ireland’s Government in finding the courage to make the necessary changes in law,” she said.
Ms Mellet asked that the media respect her wish for privacy for herself and her husband, James, who had supported her “every step of the way”.
Ms Mellet was one of four Irish women who developed pregnancies with fatal foetal abnormalities who came forward just over four years ago to tell their stories.
Ms Mellet had been 21 weeks pregnant in 2011 when her baby was diagnosed with Edwards’ syndrome (an abnormality caused by the presence of three, as opposed to two, copies of chromosome 18) with congenital heart defects, and a prognosis of death shortly after birth if not in the womb.
She and her husband told their story in The Irish Times on February 25th, 2012. They had travelled to Liverpool for a termination on December 2nd, 2011.