The Pro-Life Campaign will "look at its legal options" if the Midland Health Board decides to take a 14-year-old girl in its care to Britain for an abortion.
A spokesman for the campaign said: "No-one likes going down the legal route, but we would have great concerns if the board does go for an abortion". It urged the health board to take its time over any such decision.
The Midland Health Board yesterday confirmed it was examining the possibility of taking a teenager in its care to Britain for a termination. The girl is 22 weeks pregnant.
It is understood she became pregnant when she was 13, while at a care facility in Britain. She was in the care of the MHB at the time and was sent to the British facility because there was no suitable place for her in the State. Now back in Ireland, she remains in the care of the MHB.
When asked about the case a spokeswoman for the board said it did not "comment on individual children in our care".
She said "no such decision" had yet been made on taking the girl to Britain for an abortion. Asked when a decision might be made, she would not comment.'
Though her parents are against an abortion, her mother was quoted in yesterday's Irish Daily Star as saying she would support whatever decision her daughter made. "I nearly died when she told me she was pregnant - but I will be here for her whatever her decision is."
The upper time-limit for abortions in Britain is 24 weeks, so the girl would have to have the procedure carried out within the next fortnight.
The Irish Family Planning Association declined to give detailed comment, given that it did "not know the ins and outs of the case". However, Ms Catherine Heaney, chief executive of the IFPA said she would like to see "whatever is best for the girl" and said a termination should be facilitated if the girl felt it was necessary.
The Pro-life Campaign however has said the board must bear in mind "the likely devastating emotional and psychological consequences for the girl of having a late-term abortion".
Ms Cora Sherlock of the campaign said the board had a responsibility to "defend the rights of the unborn child in this tragic case. At 22 weeks the baby is already extremely well developed and is within just two weeks of reaching viability."
A spokesman for the campaign said it tended not to pursue such cases through the courts, but added he would be "greatly concerned" if the MHB "made a hasty decision.
The case raises the spectre of a repeat of the 1997 'C' case when the then Eastern Health Board sought permission to to take a 13-year-old girl in its care to Britain for an abortion. In that case, the girl's parents, aided by pro-life groups, sought a court injunction against her being allowed travel for a termination.
The High Court, however, ruled there was a real and substantial risk to the life, as distinct from the health, of the girl, and she did have a termination.
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