Petition to Leo Varadkar over sectioned teen goes viral overnight
A petition is currently spreading across social media in the wake of the publication of the Child Care Law Reporting Project, which revealed that a 14-year-old child was sectioned in a psychiatric unit for seeking an abortion.
The child and her mother believed they were being transferred to Dublin for a termination before realising that she was being admitted to a mental health unit.
Her psychiatrist told her abortion was 'not the solution' to her problems, despite the child feeling suicidal due to her pregnancy.
I signed this petition. Will you? That we live in in a country where a petition with this wording even exists is disgusting #repealthe8th https://t.co/l15iSmiUPJ
— Roisin Ingle (@roisiningle) June 12, 2017
The petition, which began circulating yesterday evening, has garnered 8,051 of 9,000 necessary signatures.
'A young pregnant girl was incarcerated under the Mental Health Act because she wanted an abortion,' reads the petition description.
'The Government needs to guarantee that nothing like this can ever again happen.'
#repealthe8th https://t.co/zP02d3Og7D
— RepealEight (@repealeight) June 12, 2017
'Our laws are like living in the dark ages when it comes to abortion and I want to think that my own young daughter will have the choice and option to make her own decisions over her own body- not some psychiatrist who knows nothing about her but has a pro-life agenda of his/her own,' reads one of the powerful comments on the petition.
'The criminalisation of women just for having wombs in this country is absolutely vile, and this case concerning a GIRL is vulgar, it's primitive, it's despicable, it's disgusting.'
'I can't contain my rage,' said another.
'Looking at the report, it’s hard not to think that the psychiatrist in this case essentially used the Mental Health Act as a tool to force a child into continuing an unwanted pregnancy because of their own personal beliefs" said Abortion Rights Campaign spokesperson Linda Kavanagh.
Feature Image: My Uplift: People Powered Change – To: Leo Varadkar – Taoiseach in Waiting Women Should Not Be Locked Up Because They Want An Abortion
