Young girl detained after being told abortion was ‘not the solution’

A young girl who became suicidal after falling pregnant was sectioned under the Mental Health Act because her psychiatrist told her abortion was “not the solution.”

According to The Irish Times, this case is just one of 22 covered by the Child Care Law Reporting Project, published this morning.

When this particular case came before the courts last year, an order was made to detain the girl after her psychiatrist said that while she was at the risk of self-harm as a result of the pregnancy, “this could be managed by treatment and that termination of pregnancy was not the solution for all the child’s problems at this stage.”

However, a few day later, the girl was assessed by a second psychiatrist who deemed her to be depressed with “no evidence of a psychological disorder.”

As the girl did not display signs of mental illness, she could not be detained under the Mental Health Act.

The second psychiatrist also reported that the girl in question had “very strong views” as to why she wanted to terminate the pregnancy.

Her treating adolescent psychiatrist also spoke to the court, revealing that although the young girl was angry and upset, she did not suffer from an acute mental disorder and therefore could not be detained.

He also said that both she 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.

The girl was later discharged from the unit.