The case of a 13-year-old girl who is pregnant after an alleged rape could be referred to the High Court this week for a decision on whether she can have an abortion.
The parents of the girl, who is almost 12 weeks pregnant, have said they want their daughter to have an abortion. Under laws passed since the Supreme Court decision on the X case, they have the legal right to take her to Britain for the procedure.
However, the girl's case has been handled by social workers at the Eastern Health Board since shortly after the alleged rape. "We don't want her to have the baby. It would kill her. She's only a baby herself," the girl's mother said yesterday.
The girl, who is a member of the travelling community, was taken into care by the Health Board about a week after the alleged rape. She is one of 12 children.
"Our main concern is the child," the girl's father said. "If people know what's going on then those people who are against abortion and those people who are for us can fight it out amongst themselves."
According to an expert on abortion law, the health board is likely to refer the final decision to a court. A spokeswoman for the EHB said it could not make any comment on the case as each case was treated in confidence. The case highlights the ambiguity surrounding the law on abortion, which includes the constitutional protection of the life of the unborn, the Supreme Court judgment on the X case and the right to travel and to get information.
The alleged rape happened in the early hours of August 27th. The man, in his 20s, is alleged to have raped the girl in his van. Gardai are searching for the suspect, who left the area after the alleged rape.
The girl's mother said she thought her daughter had been given the morning-after pill. "We've done our best," her father said. "We went to the Catholic church. The priest listened to us, and he's a very genuine kind of man, but he said to go ahead with it would certainly be murder.".
After a report in a Sunday newspaper yesterday, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children issued a statement "appealing to the public to come forward with offers of assistance for the young girl at the centre of the tragic rape case".
A spokeswoman said the assistance could be money or offers to adopt the baby. Asked if the society would take any legal action, the spokeswoman said: "We did have a referendum on the right to travel so we can't stop her going."
She said the society did not rule out a public demonstration.
A legal expert said it was likely the health board would go to the High Court to get direction because of the complexities of the law and its position as a statutory body.
"There would be concern that they might be acting in breach of the constitutional amendment by themselves weighing up the right to life of the unborn and the right to life of the mother."
