Irish teenager wins abortion battle

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The 17-year-old is four months pregnant with a baby which cannot survive after birth.

She had been barred from leaving Ireland, where abortion is still illegal except where the mother's life is in danger. The teenager is in the care of the Republic's Health Service Executive, which prevented her making the journey.

But the High Court in Dublin ruled there was no statutory or constitutional grounds for stopping her from travelling to the UK for the operation.

Two weeks ago the girl known only as Miss D was told her baby was suffering from anencephaly, a condition which prevents its brain from developing properly.

The HSE sparked a High Court legal battle after calling on the gardai and the passport authorities to stop the teenager travelling to Britain for an abortion.

Health chiefs maintained Miss D needed a declaration from the courts to travel but this was refused by a district court judge on Saturday.

The HSE, the State, barristers for Miss D and her mother all apparently agreed that she should go.

But as arguments continued over the legal and constitutional implications, the girl, known to be from the Leinster area, was forced to wait for news.

On Wednesday Mr Justice Liam McKechnie ruled the girl was now free to travel to the UK for the purpose of terminating her pregnancy.