Ireland's cowardly position on abortion is bad enough (export for those who can afford it and are over 18, ban for everyone else) but what's really bizarre is that for all of the talk about this case where is the political argument?
I'd love to see more background on this case if you know of any Wendy. I'm not clear on quite how the HSE got involved.
Jason.
On 2007-04-30 23:36:34 +0100 Wendy Lyon <wendy.lyon at gmail.com> wrote:
> A 17-year old girl who is four months pregnant with a foetus suffering
> from a condition which means a major part of its brain is absent has
> brought a High Court case seeking to challenge directions by the
> Health Service Executive stopping her travelling outside the State for
> an abortion.
>
> The 17-year old who is in care, who cannot be named, is four months
> pregnant. The High Court was told yesterday she found out last week
> that the foetus suffers from a condition called anencephaly where a
> major part of the brain is absent.
>
> Her Counsel Gerard Hogan SC told the court that the life expectancy
> for such a baby after birth is three days maximum.
>
> Mr Hogan said that up until the "unfortunate news" last week, there
> was no question of a termination and this has only arisen in the last
> few days.
>
> The 17-year old girl was in court with her partner throughout the
> brief hearing. The proceedings in which the girl is seeking leave to
> bring a High Court legal challenge have been brought by the girl's
> boyfriend on behalf of the 17-year old girl.
>
> Mr Justice Liam McKechnie was told the girl is in care as a result of
> a care order made by the District Court under the Child Care Act 1991
> at the start of April.
>
> The girl who can only be identified as "Miss D" from the Leinster
> region who is the care of the HSE authorities is seeking leave to seek
> an order from the High Court quashing the care order made by the
> District Justice to the extent that it restricts her from travelling
> from the State.
>
> She is also seeking an order quashing the decision of the HSE to
> contact the Gardaí to request that she not be permitted to leave the
> State.
>
> In the judicial review proceedings against the District Justice, the
> Health Services Executive and Ireland and the Attorney General, the
> girl is also seeking an order quashing the decision of the HSE
> refusing to permit her to travel to procure the termination of her
> pregnancy unless she presented as a suicide risk.
>
> In the proceedings, the girl is also seeking an order directing the
> HSE to advise the Gardaí that they consent to her travelling to the
> United Kingdom.
>
> She is also seeking a declaration that there is no lawful basis for
> interference with her right to terminate her pregnancy and the HSE
> decision to prevent her leaving the State to procure a termination of
> her pregnancy constitutes an unlawful interference with her
> constitutional rights to personal autonomy, bodily integrity, private
> life and to travel as protected under the Constitution.
>
> When the case was called before Mr Justice Liuam McKechnie yesterday,
> the girls's Counsel Gerard Hogan SC said the 17-year-old-girl had only
> found out in the last week that the foetus she is carrying suffered
> from the anencephaly.
>
> The HSE, he said, relying on the care order made, had given certain
> directions that the girl was not to be permitted to leave the State
> for the termination.
>
> She has claimed that she has been advised by the HSE that the Gardaí
> have been notified that she is not permitted to leave the State and
> the care order makes it unlawful for her to leave the State without
> HSE permission.
>
> The care order, Counsel said, had been put in place as a result of the
> conduct of the girl's mother, and her father has been absent from her
> life.
>
> He said following the "very unfortunate news" about her baby, the girl
> had made the decision to go to the UK for a termination of her
> pregnancy.
>
> http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/?jp=MHAUIDGBAUOJ
>
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