The District Court has refused to grant a teenage girl the right to travel to Britain for an abortion.
The 17-year-old, who is four months pregnant and can only be identified as "Miss D", had challenged the Health Service Executive's (HSE) decision to prevent her from terminating her pregnancy abroad.
Last week the High Court ruled the State did not have any power to stop the girl - who has been in the care of the HSE since February - travelling to the UK
The girl was told two weeks ago that her baby was suffering from anencephaly, a condition where a major part of the brain is missing and that the baby would not survive outside the womb for more than a few days.
But at a special sitting of the District Court today a judge refused to grant an order allowing the teenager to leave Ireland.
He said it would be unlawful under legislation designed to protect the rights of the unborn child.
A High Court judge - now being asked to rule on the case and separately on a judicial review of the district court judge's ruling - said it was a novel situation.
Donal O'Donnell SC, for the Attorney General and the State, maintained that neither the Health Service Executive (HSE) nor the gardai have any legal power to restrain the girl, who is under an interim care order.
He maintained authority wasn't required to travel abroad from a free country - only to restrain people from travelling abroad, and in the absence of any such order the girl was free to travel.