Leo Varadkar urges Ms Y to take part in abortion inquiry

Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has personally urged Ms Y to participate in "an inquiry at some stage in the future" so what happened to her "never happens to another woman".

Mr Varadkar had a two-hour private meeting yesterday with Ms Y, the asylum seeker who last summer unsuccessfully sought an abortion after arriving in Ireland pregnant as a result of alleged rape.

She told a number of agencies she did not want to be pregnant and was advised about the cost of travelling for an abortion as well as the significant difficulties she faced due to her legal status.

She became increasingly distressed as the pregnancy progressed and came to the attention of the HSE when she was about 22 weeks pregnant. She was assessed by a panel of three experts under the terms of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act and deemed to be suicidal.

Caesarean section

Her pregnancy was not terminated, however, and her baby was delivered in August by Caesarean section at about 26 weeks’ gestation.

Ms Y, who is now a refugee, met the Minister at Leinster House with her solicitor Caoimhe Haughey and a friend. Two officials from the Department of Health were also there.

Ms Haughey said the meeting was “excellent”, and her client was “really pleased to have been listened to by the Minister and to have been treated with such compassion by him”.

Among the issues they discussed, she said, were Ms Y’s decision not to take part in a HSE inquiry into her care, how the PLDP Act was “working or not working for women”, her experiences in hospital and her forthcoming judicial review of the HSE inquiry.

“He wanted to hear her story and urged her to consider taking part in some form of inquiry or investigation at some stage. He said he wanted to ensure that what happened to her never again happened to another woman and that it was important her direct account was heard.

“He said he was very sorry about what happened to her and he hoped she could one day put it behind her. He was very genuine. He asked her some very poignant questions about her interactions with various agencies and her feelings about what happened to her and really listened. He got to meet the young woman at the centre of this and I think he was genuinely moved by that.”

Judicial review

She said there was discussion as to whether the PLDP Act should have been invoked earlier in her pregnancy.

“There was a lot of discussion about the act and how it’s working or not working for women. He asked about the judicial review and we laid out why we couldn’t participate in an inquiry where the HSE is investigating the HSE.”