She could have aborted this baby a whole *month* ago. Second-trimester abortion and first-trimester abortion are very different experiences, for the infant and the mother. This situation is obscene.
A month ago she didn't know about the anencephaly - it was only discovered at a scan in the last two weeks (the 24th, if I remember correctly). Six days later, she had been through the HSE rigmarole and was making an application to the High Court to be allowed to challenge the HSE's decision. And the ridiculous thing is that should the High Court make a positive decision tomorrow, she still has to go through the District Court for permission to travel.
The District Court sat yesterday according to the SIndo. the proceedings were in camera so they can't be reported on but it's likely that she's already in the UK.
Ah, okay, I had thought that there was a DC sitting yesterday, but couldn't find any reference to it when I checked (missed the Sindo report). It said that there still has to be the High Court special session tomorrow, though, which should just be a rubber-stamp job, so.
She only found out on April 23rd, when she was 16 weeks, that there was a problem.
The sticking point is not that she can't terminate but that she's in the care of the HSE. If she were suicidal, there would be no problem as that issue has already been dealt with. The court action was taken by Miss D as a pre-emptive strike against the HSE.
It seems now that an over-zealous social worker was the one who told her in the first place that she couldn't go. The HSE have admitted they have no power to prevent her from going to the UK (which actually worries me because does that mean they have no power to prevent a different teenager who just wants to go for a pleasure trip?).
Once a child is 17 I think they're allowed to do more or less whatever they like without parent/guardian consent. For example, I don't think they can ordinarily be forced to move back into the family home.
As I understand it she's (that is, any random 17yo) entitled to their protection from her negligent or abusive parent. A parent would find it very hard to legally prevent a 17yo from travelling abroad, though they could easily enough withhold assistance eg signing ID forms etc.
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The sticking point is not that she can't terminate but that she's in the care of the HSE. If she were suicidal, there would be no problem as that issue has already been dealt with. The court action was taken by Miss D as a pre-emptive strike against the HSE.
It seems now that an over-zealous social worker was the one who told her in the first place that she couldn't go. The HSE have admitted they have no power to prevent her from going to the UK (which actually worries me because does that mean they have no power to prevent a different teenager who just wants to go for a pleasure trip?).
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Of course, it's a long time since I left home.