Abortion row girl 'free to travel': AG

The Attorney General today insisted there was nothing preventing a teenage girl fighting to travel to Britain for an abortion from doing so.

Health chiefs sparked a High Court legal battle after calling on the Gardaí and the passport authorities to stop the 17-year-old from making the journey.

They made a U-turn on Friday, three days into the case, saying they wouldn’t object if the teenager – known only as 'Miss D' – had consent from a District Court judge and her mother.

But on Saturday morning at a special sitting, a District Court judge refused to grant an order allowing the four-months-pregnant girl to leave Ireland.

He said it would be unlawful under legislation designed to protect the rights of the unborn child.

A High Court judge – now being asked to rule on the case and separately on a judicial review of the district court judge’s ruling – said it was a novel situation.

Donal O’Donnell SC, for the Attorney General and the State, maintained that neither the Health Service Executive (HSE) nor the Gardaí have any legal power to restrain the girl, who is under an interim care order.

He maintained authority was not required to travel abroad from a free country - only to restrain people from travelling abroad, and in the absence of any such order, the girl was free to travel.