- Judge allows girl, 12, to have abortion
- 26/09/2008 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: Rambo ( 6 articles in 2008 )
A Queensland judge has granted a pregnant 12-year-old girl permission to have an abortion.
In a landmark ruling, Queensland Supreme Court Justice Margaret Wilson has ordered state government doctors be allowed to terminate the girl's pregnancy using the drug Misoprostol.
During a closed after-hours hearing in Brisbane last week, the court heard the girl, who is 18 weeks' pregnant and in a public hospital, had sought to have her pregnancy terminated and had the support of her parents.
The matter was brought before court by state government lawyers, representing the girl's doctors.
The court heard that because of the girl's age, neither she, nor her parents, were legally able to give consent to the procedure and a court order was required before the abortion could go ahead.
It is the first case of its kind in Queensland.
The girl's obstetrician told the court the girl had the intellectual capacity of a six-year-old.
The court also heard the girl did not have a full understanding of the nature of the proposed termination.
However, Justice Wilson rejected that evidence and ruled the abortion was in the girl's best interests.
She relied heavily on the opinion of two psychiatrists who examined the girl and told the court the pregnancy would pose serious dangers to her mental health and wellbeing, well beyond the normal dangers of pregnancy and childbirth.
They told the court the termination was the only way to avert the potential dangers to the girl.
The court heard the girl's parents had been separated for three years and that her mother moved interstate about three weeks ago for work, leaving the girl with her grandmother and father.
The whereabouts of the baby's father are not known, but he is thought to live in Queensland.
In a landmark ruling, Queensland Supreme Court Justice Margaret Wilson has ordered state government doctors be allowed to terminate the girl's pregnancy using the drug Misoprostol.
During a closed after-hours hearing in Brisbane last week, the court heard the girl, who is 18 weeks' pregnant and in a public hospital, had sought to have her pregnancy terminated and had the support of her parents.
The matter was brought before court by state government lawyers, representing the girl's doctors.
The court heard that because of the girl's age, neither she, nor her parents, were legally able to give consent to the procedure and a court order was required before the abortion could go ahead.
It is the first case of its kind in Queensland.
The girl's obstetrician told the court the girl had the intellectual capacity of a six-year-old.
The court also heard the girl did not have a full understanding of the nature of the proposed termination.
However, Justice Wilson rejected that evidence and ruled the abortion was in the girl's best interests.
She relied heavily on the opinion of two psychiatrists who examined the girl and told the court the pregnancy would pose serious dangers to her mental health and wellbeing, well beyond the normal dangers of pregnancy and childbirth.
They told the court the termination was the only way to avert the potential dangers to the girl.
The court heard the girl's parents had been separated for three years and that her mother moved interstate about three weeks ago for work, leaving the girl with her grandmother and father.
The whereabouts of the baby's father are not known, but he is thought to live in Queensland.
Source: https://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=637726
1Will not be visible to public.
2Receive notification of other comments posted for this article. To cease notification after having posted click here.
3To make a link clickable in the comments box enclose in link tags - ie.<link>Link</link>.
4To show an image enclose the image URL in tags - ie.<image>https://fredspage.com/box.jpg</image>. Note: image may be resized if too large
To further have your say, head to our forum Click Here
To contribute a news article Click Here
To view or contribute a Quote Click Here