| Irish National Health Service Executive (HSE) seeks court order for teenage girl to have abortion abroad
The Sunday Tribune reported 29.06.08 that a pregnant 14-year-old in the care of the Health Service Executive (HSE) will be the subject of a court application this week to allow her to travel abroad for an abortion despite the objections of the girls mother. The girl who has been described as potentially suicidal was reported, to have undergone psychiatric assessment, and to have a history of mild self harm. The HSE will not discuss details of the case to protect the anonymity of the girl in their care.
According to the Sunday Tribune article the circumstances echo that of the C case in 1997 in which the judge ruled that as miss C was likely to take her own life if forced to continue with the pregnancy she was entitled to travel to Britain for an abortion, by virtue of the original judgement in the X case of 1992. ELN reported on a similar 2005 case in which a teenage girl was allowed to travel abroad for an abortion. Again in 2007 the high court ruled that there was nothing to prevent a 4 months pregnant 17 year old girl known as "Miss D" whose baby had been diagnosed as being anencephalic, from travelling to Britain for an abortion. We understand that if teenage girls in care have been victims of rape or incest the HSE will make court applications to take them abroad for abortions despite the Irish constitutional ban on abortion.
In 2002, the then Minister for Health Michael Martin said that the State would pay for foreign abortions for teenagers in care. 'We cannot stop parents bringing their children abroad for abortions why would we put an obstacle in the way of health boards who are acting in loco parentis' he said. Pro-life groups do not accept the former Ministers view and believe that this is prohibited by Article 40.3.3 of the Irish Constitution.
see also breaking news.ie
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Romania may amend abortion law to permit abortion for 11 year old
SPUC report that Romania may amend its law to let an 11-year-old have an abortion there. The girl, an alleged rape-victim who is 20 weeks pregnant, could still travel to Britain for the procedure if the government lets her. The general time limit for abortion in Romania is 14 weeks, though there are exceptions. Some religious groups oppose the abortion but reports persist that the Orthodox church thinks the family should decide. [Times, 27 June, and Independent, 27 June] It is unclear whether rape is an exception to Romanian law. It has not been proved in this case. | |
| Greetings! Dear (Contact First Name),
We report this week on two cases of teen pregnancy. The first is the case of a pregnant 14 year old girl which will come before th Irish courts this week and the second is that of an 11 year Romanian girl. Whatever the outcome of these cases both girls need love, support, care and prayer to help them through the coming weeks.
We also report on the outcome of the Council of Europe vote on "preventing the first form of violence against children:abandonnment at birth".
See also my recent posting to my BLOG dealing with these issues
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Council of Europe vote on "preventing the first form of violence against children:abandonnment at birth".
The debate on this resolution took place in Council of Europe (COE) on Friday 27 June. The goal of the resolution was to consider ways to reduce the numbers of children abandoned at birth in member States and to protect the rights of abandoned children, such as the right to determine their origins. The good aspects to the resolution included, promotion of support for pregnant women in difficulty, however the resolution pushes issues such as sexual rights and reproductive health services. In essence abortion is regarded as a preferable option to a later abandonment when in reality both options are completely unacceptable. There also seems to be confusion in the report and the text of the resolution between criminal abandonment and legitimate decisions to place children for adoption. Despite suggestions to contrary the report was not taken on a paragraph by paragraph basis but a number of amendments were proposed and accepted by the rapporteur. There were six (6) amendments and the report taken as a whole including the amendments was approved 39-1 total present for the debate was in the region of 65 with only 40 voting. Presenting the report rapporteur Mr Michael Hancock, United Kingdom, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Said, law means nothing if the most vulnerable, the newborn child cannot be protected and described the purpose of the report and resolution as being threefold first to raise awareness of the issue of abandonment, second to protect the interests of the child and third that every born child should have the right to live and be given a decent chance to achieve his or her potential This analysis while valid for children from the time of their birth is founded on a basic untruth, the first form of violence is termination, the abortion of children before birth. The Convention on the Rights of the Child defines children as every human Being before the age of 18 and it also calls for protection before as well as after birth.
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A report on a UK Parliamentary meeting last week highlighted the growing problem of sex selective abortion in India. There are an estimated 35 million 'missing' girls in India alone. The average sex ratio across India is just 800 girls to 1000 boys, and as low as 300 girls per 1000 boys in one area. Recent demographic reports suggest that there are 100 million missing girls worldwide. A United States resolution on the issue proposed last year during the UN Commission on the Status of Women had to be withdrawn due to overwhelming opposition from countries such as China and India where sex selective abortion is widely practiced, but also surprisingly due to lack of support from the EU. The Holy See noted at the time: "Despite its importance, the Commission on the Status of Women has remained silent on prenatal sex selection, infanticide and son preference."
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RU 486 Claims 14th Victim
A recent report shows that a British teenager died in 2005 following a legal abortion in which the dangerous drug RU 486 was used. Manon Jones, an 18-year-old student from Caernarfon in Wales experienced heavy bleeding after the abortion and eventually died. This is the 14th known death resulting from the use of RU-486, though it is believed there are others who died as unknown deaths. According to published figures eight women in the United States have died from RU 486 one in Canada, three in the UK, one in Sweden, and one in France. RU-486 is a powerful and dangerous cocktail of drugs otherwise known as mifepristone (which has been termed "the Human Pesticide") and is sold under various trade names
A research paper[1] published recently in the Journal of Immunology claims that RU 486 impairs innate immunity and causes septic shock in women. This report adds to the body of evidence that so called "safe and legal abortions" are distinctly unsafe for many women as well as being terminal for babies.
The former head of the Pontifical Council for the Family Cardinal Lopez Trujillo who died recently, described RU-486 as "chemical warfare against unborn life".
[1] Misoprostol Impairs Female Reproductive Tract Innate Immunity against Clostridium sordellii 1 David M. Aronoff,2 Yibai Hao, Jooho Chung, Nicole Coleman, Casey Lewis, Camila M. Peres, Carlos H. Serezani, Gwo-Hsiao Chen, Nicolas Flamand, Thomas G. Brock, and Marc Peters-Golden
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Rights for Apes?
Apes in Spain could be granted rights similar to human ones. The parliament's environment committee has approved measures to stop the animals from being used for experiments, filming, television advertising and circus performance. The law, which has government support, is expected to pass. Apes could still be kept in zoos. [Sky, 26 June] | |
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