Lawyers to represent Miss D and baby
It emerged yesterday that the attorney general has engaged two sets of legal teams to represent both the State and the girl’s unborn child in the controversial hearing.
Barrister, James Connolly SC told the High Court that he had been instructed by Attorney General Rory Brady to act for the interests of the unborn in the case taken by the 17-year-old girl known only as Miss D.
The decision was welcomed by the Pro-Life Campaign, which pointed out that there were legal precedents for appointing advocates for the unborn in such cases.
“It is only proper that respect for the dignity and value of the unborn child be taken into consideration. The campaign does not believe an abortion is in the best interests of either the mother or the unborn baby,” said the group’s spokesperson, Dr Ruth Cullen.
A full hearing of the case will go before Mr Justice Liam McKechnie in which the girl is seeking a number of orders from the High Court.
Miss D is legally challenging the decision of the HSE to contact gardaí to request that she not be permitted to travel outside the State for an abortion.
The expectant mother, who is four months pregnant, decided she wanted to go to Britain for a termination of her pregnancy after learning last week that her unborn baby suffers from a rare brain condition which means the child has a maximum life expectancy of three days.
She is also seeking to quash a District Court ruling earlier this year which placed her in the care of the HSE. The care order makes it illegal for the girl to travel outside Ireland without the permission of the health authorities.
Although the courts have previously ruled in other high-profile cases dealing with the issue of abortion in the 1990s in favour of a woman’s “right to travel”, the Miss D hearing contains some separate, important, personal circumstances which means the outcome is far from certain.
Unlike the young, pregnant women at the centre of the landmark “X” and “C” cases, Miss D has told the High Court that she is not suicidal. As a result of constitutional amendments in the 1990s, abortion is allowed in Ireland where there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother, including suicide.
Meanwhile, a new pro-choice group, Choice Ireland, is to stage a demonstration outside the Four Courts today in support of Miss D.
The group’s spokesperson Mary O’Flynn accused the Government of inflicting unnecessary trauma on women in incredibly stressful situations by failing to legislate for cases similar to that of “X” and “C”.
