No final decision has been made on the "irrevocable act" in the case of the 13-year-old pregnant rape victim whom the High Court has permitted to travel to England for an abortion, the Archbishop of Dublin said yesterday. Dr Desmond Connell, speaking after a Mass at St Andrew's Church, Dublin, said an auxiliary bishop of Dublin, Dr Ray Field, had visited the girl's parents.
On speculation that the girl's father had asked the church for funding to take an appeal to the Supreme Court, Dr Connell said several things would have to be taken into consideration in such a circumstance.
"The first obvious question is the availability of free legal aid. People should not be debarred from access to the courts because they are poor," he said.
Dr Connell also asked what the object of an appeal to the Supreme Court would be. What were they appealing? It seemed to him that one of the great weaknesses before the High Court was the court's refusal to agree to the parents' request for another opinion.
"The whole thing turned on the question of suicide and as in the X case a second opinion was not granted," he said. The refusal to allow a second opinion was incomprehensible, he said.
He thought there were two things which should remain distinct from each other. There was the crisis the girl was going through and then there was the legal issue of abortion. Unfortunately, these were inextricably mixed at present.
He was deeply concerned for the girl's welfare. From the beginning, through the travellers' parish, he had tried to give what help he could. Dr Field had visited the parents on Saturday.
Dr Connell did not think there had been any direct contact with the girl and did not know where she or her foster parents were. "I've made no attempt to make contact."
It was a crucial time as no final decision had been made on the "irrevocable act". "I would appeal out of consideration for herself and her future for calm reflection and support for this child," he said.
"There is all the difference in the world in what seems to solve the problem immediately and in the long-term considerations," Dr Connell said.