I asked for the baby and they told me there was no baby . . .

[Seán Mac Stiofán]

'Still to this day it's living with me . . . I'm still living in fear, fear all the time' - The Irish Times - Sat, Jul 18, 2009

“The nightmare still continues with me going to England to have the abortion. I remember flying over on the plane with social workers to have the abortion . . .

“I didn’t understand what was happening. The foster mother took me out of school because I was getting sick constantly. She brought me to the doctor and the doctor gave me a wee urine sample that you wee into. So I did that for the doctor and he asked me to go back out to the waiting room and then never told me anything.

“The foster mother and the doctor stayed in the room and the next morning I woke up there were social workers at the table and I didn’t know what it was and I was like yeah, I thought I was getting the baby out.”

You thought there would be a living baby there?

“Afterwards yeah. Then I remember waking up from the abortion and screaming and screaming and crying with the pain so they gave me another injection to fall back to sleep, well I don’t know, I fell back to sleep afterwards. I woke up then and I was in no pain so I asked for the baby and they told me there was no baby . . .

“I wouldn’t have wanted to keep it; I would have put it up for adoption or something. No I wouldn’t have wanted to keep the baby but I would have liked for it to be put for adoption . . .

“I still, still to this day I’m still suffering. I went to get a death certificate done for the baby. I named her Shannon. So, like, that was pretty hard for me to do as well. I went away for a week and I did that. That was pretty hard for me to do as well. But I had to have some dignity to say that that child was still there . . .

“I’ve tried to kill myself. I don’t know how many times I’ve tried to kill myself. But I have a little five- year-old son now so he’s keeping me, he is the best thing that has ever happened me now . . .

Awful, harrowing stuff. So many issues here to be addressed.

Firstly, the victim commented more on her abortion than on the actual rape.

Secondly, the victim was lead to believe (by whom? Social workers? Her foster mother? Ivana Bacik?) that the abortion would result in a live birth and not murder.

Thirdly, the victim expressed her desire to give birth to the child. She expressed a desire to put the child up for adoption. She acquired a death certificate for "the foetus".

I think this interview has profound implications. As I recall (I stand to be corrected), "C" supposedly desired an abortion whilst her family acted through the courts to prevent it. The Pro-Choice activists won. Some victory.

But...

Seemingly the child had absolutely no idea of what "an abortion" actually comprised, as demonstrated by the above comments. This is actually quite serious.

This merits an investigation and question need to be answered:

• Who suggested an abortion was necessary? The child? Or faceless Pro-choice activists in the Department of Health?
  
  Who represented "C"? That individual or individuals are surely guilty of a grievous injustice through evidently tricking this girl into an abortion.

Essentially I am asking: how did this happen?

[spidermom]

Heard her interview on Pat Kenny this week...same thing struck me too!

Informed consent?????....don't think so!!!!

Very sad story all round

[Tommy Tayto]

Err......so she though abortion meant delivering the baby real early? And she could just put it up for adoption then?

[Mar Tweedy]

Secondly, the victim was lead to believe (by whom? Social workers? Her foster mother? Ivana Bacik?) that the abortion would result in a live birth and not murder.

I think your quote above possibly breaks the don't get dave sued rule. Outrageous thing to say about Bacik.

Other than that I'll not say more other than its very sad and I think this woman has had enough of her private life aired publicly already.

[TradCat]

She was a 13 year old traveller Tommy and she was not, according to her own account, properly informed about what was being decided on her behalf. Neither were the rest of us it seems. We were told she was looking to have the baby aborted. By her own account know she did not know what that meant.

No matter where you stand on abortion this raises question. What does the right to choose mean if you don't understand the choice?

edit

I don't think an enquiry now is in her best interests either. She has suffered enough.

[wombat]

Remember, we are talking about a 13 year old when she was raped. She has also been harassed since. Its too sad and she should be left alone.

[rhonda15]

I would like to know what the protocol is for these types of cases (from a social workers point of view).
I think also that there are clearly many troubling questions about the conduct of the social workers and medical personnel involved in this case.

[JCSkinner]

Given the ramifications of that particular case, and even bearing in mind the terrible toll this girl has already suffered, I'm afraid that this revelation makes an inquiry utterly essential.

[TradCat]

"In the C case another raped and pregnant teenager - in the care of the Eastern Health Board - sought an abortion in the UK. This case differed from the X case in that the victim's parents opposed her decision to travel to the UK for an abortion. They had sought an injunction preventing the board from taking her to the UK. Basing themselves on the judgement in the X case the court ruled that she could travel. However, the judge also commented: "The amended Constitution does not now confer a right to abortion outside of Ireland. It merely prevents injunctions against travelling for that purpose."

On the face of it we have a situation where social workers fooled her into having an abortion against the wishes of her parents and used the courts to enforce their will.

That is a fairly appalling situation. It will be interesting to see if the media follow it up or will it get dropped.

[Seán Mac Stiofán]

Err......so she though abortion meant delivering the baby real early? And she could just put it up for adoption then?

Yes...that's apparently what she understood what by the term 'abortion'. I wonder who told her that?

I think your quote above possibly breaks the don't get dave sued rule. Outrageous thing to say about Bacik.

Other than that I'll not say more other than its very sad and I think this woman has had enough of her private life aired publicly already.

Obviously my comment concerning Bacik was tongue and cheek...I don't know what involvement Bacik had with this case. However, the notion that Ireland's premier liberal abortion supporter and activist wasn't involved in this case in some capacity would surprise me (even though it occurred over ten years ago). I wonder would she comment on it?

Of course this case is very sad, but I find your comment concerning ignoring this issue rather disingenuous: "look over there!!" These are legitimate questions: who suggested she ought to have an abortion? Who explained to term to her? Was there 'informed consent' (obviously not)? Who was here senior counsel? Other members of the legal team? Did she express any independent opinions during this sorry mess? Who made these decisions for her? Are we going to ignore this, just like we ignore everything else? What about the Ryan Report Radicals? Why so reticent?

I don't think an enquiry now is in her best interests either. She has suffered enough.

An inquiry, I think, is warranted. Who are these DoH&C 'pro-choice' activists that tricked this girl into desiring an abortion? Have they done this before or subsequently?