Editor’s note. This appeared on the webpage of SPUC–the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children and is reposted with permission.
In June, the Irish press was full of the story of a suicidal girl who was committed to a psychiatric unit after her psychiatrist ruled that it [an abortion] was ‘not the solution’ to her problems.
The implication was this was because the doctor objected to abortion.
The 2013 Protection of Life in Pregnancy Act allows abortion when the woman is deemed to be suicidal or at risk of loss of life from physical illness. (The measure was passed despite all the medical experts in a special hearing of a government committee convened to examine the legislation agreeing that abortion is NOT a treatment where a pregnant mother is in distress and is contemplating suicide.)
[The story of the young girl] was clearly being used as an argument for changing the law and repealing the Eighth Amendment.
Both alive and well
However, recently, more facts about the case emerged. The Irish Independent revealed that a panel of experts, convened under the abortion legislation, had concluded the teenager should have a termination as she was suicidal (psychiatrists working under the Mental Health Act disagreed).
However, she gave birth three weeks later, and the baby is living with the mother and her family.
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