ireland.com - The Irish Times -
Tue, May 08, 2007 -
High Court to rule tomorrow on Miss D's leave to
travel
travel
Mary Carolan
The High Court will decide tomorrow whether a pregnant
17-year-old girl in care may travel to the UK for an abortion. Miss
D is almost 18 weeks pregnant with a baby with a major brain
defect.
Lawyers for the State, the unborn and the girl have all argued
there is no law preventing Miss D travelling.
The HSE insists she requires a court order to do so but District
Court Judge Flann Brennan refused its application last Saturday to
make that order on grounds that this would be a failure to
vindicate the constitutional right to life of the unborn.
Miss D wished to have her baby until she learned on April 23rd
last that it has anencephaly, a condition where a major part of the
brain is missing and where it has a prognosis of three days
survival after birth.
Mr Justice Liam McKechnie now has to decide two sets of legal
proceedings. In her proceedings, Miss D wants the court to rule the
HSE cannot restrain her from travelling. The HSE got leave from the
High Court on Sunday to bring the second set of proceedings
challenging the District Court's refusal to make an order that it
is in the best interests of her welfare to allow her travel.
Yesterday, Mr Justice McKechnie said he could not give an
immediate decision, as requested by the HSE, on whether Miss D
could travel or not as the case had implications but he would give
his decision at 2pm tomorrow.
Gerard Durcan SC, for the HSE, said the constitutional provision
protecting the right to life of the unborn had to be read together
with the right to travel amendment to the Constitution approved by
the people. The people had decided that, "whatever other way you
vindicate the rights of the unborn, you do not do it by restricting
the freedom to travel".
Lawyers for the State argued the case is not about the right to
life of the unborn but about the right to travel. Children had
constitutional rights from day one and "those rights are not
delivered to them by courier on their 18th birthday", Donal
O'Donnell SC said.
While agreeing there was no law under which Miss D could be
restrained from travelling for an abortion, James Connolly SC, for
the unborn, said no State agency should facilitate or fund such
travel and the courts should not be "some form of licensing body
for abortions".
Miss D's baby is a live foetus entitled to the constitutional
protection for the unborn and the fact that it cannot survive after
birth "is irrelevant", he said.
© 2007 The Irish Times
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