Three senior judges overturned a decision made in June that a woman who has the mental age of a young child should have an abortion. This termination had been against her wishes because it was argued that it was in her best interests.
During the initial ruling, the 22-year-old was told she would go to sleep and when she woke up the ‘baby would no longer be in her tummy but she would get a new doll’.
The NHS Trust responsible for her care had asked for permission to terminate the pregnancy. Three specialists, an obstetrician, and two psychiatrists argued that there was a risk to the woman’s psychiatric health if the pregnancy continued.
They also said that if she had had the baby, taking the child from her would cause greater psychiatric harm than terminating the pregnancy.
Both the woman’s mother, who is Roman Catholic, and her social worker were against an abortion.
The court heard that the ‘circumstances of the conception’ were ‘unclear’ and that a police investigation was ongoing.
Government data has shown the following abortion trends in England and Wales:
• The abortion rate is the highest it has been for ten years, with over 200,000 for resident women, and over 5,000 for non-resident women.
• The abortion rate for those under-18 has fallen
• The abortion rate for women aged 35+ has increased
• 98% were funded by the NHS
• 9/10 abortions were carried out at under 13 weeks
• 39% of women having an abortion had had one or more previous abortions
