Title: Girl's pregnancy made abortion a major issue in antiabortion Ireland.
Abstract: On February 7 1992 the courts in Ireland ruled that a 14-year-old rape victim could not go to England for an abortion. A higher court later reversed that decision. The police have chosen not to investigate the rapist. She allegedly did undergo an abortion in England in early March and as of late March was suicidal. Irelands president the premier and probably the health minister supported the adolescent. This case dramatized the adverse effect of the abortion law in Ireland which only allows an abortion when the mothers life is threatened. The people reaffirmed this law 2 to 1 in a 1983 referendum. The Catholic girl had been going to a convent school and had been sexually molested by her school friends father for 2 years. When she realized she was pregnant she informed her parents. They told the Irish police about the rape and asked the polices advice about obtaining fetal tissue for genetic fingerprinting to be used in the prosecution. The police referred the case to the attorney general who secured an emergency order from the courts. The order prevented her and her parents from taking the life of the fetus from leaving Ireland for 9 months and from obtaining or arranging an abortion anywhere. The February 26 reversal restricted the Irish press from reporting the case. The Irish Times did anyhow. Besides Ireland kept up with the case by paying attention to BBCs extensive news coverage. This case raised the possibility of a second referendum to overturn the restrictive abortion law. Only 20% of general practitioners in Ireland firmly oppose abortion and the rest either refer women to a colleague in England or to activist groups which facilitate means to obtain an abortion in England. At least 4000 Irish women undergo an abortion in England annually. The Irish Supreme Court is aware that the European court will overthrow Irelands abortion law if it does not do so itself.
Publication Year: 1992
Publication Date: 1992-04-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['pubmed']
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