Queensland court grants girl, 12, an abortion

The court ruled the girl could consent to the procedure, and heard her father was not notified due to concerns over violence.

A court has ruled a 12-year-old Queensland girl can get an abortion after falling pregnant to her 13-year-old boyfriend.

The girl, given the pseudonym E, was nine-weeks pregnant when the Supreme Court of Queensland heard an application by an unnamed hospital to perform the surgical abortion last month.

According to the court’s judgment, posted on Wednesday, the girl fell pregnant after consensual sex with her boyfriend who was aware of both the pregnancy and desire for termination.

The girl was supported by her mother but her father had not been notified “due to concerns that he may become violent towards E”.

“E is starting to experience the symptoms of pregnancy, and is missing out on school,” the judgment states.

“She wants to obtain the termination before she begins to show signs of pregnancy, so that her father and her sister are not alerted to her pregnancy.”

Orders were sought from the court because hospital staff were concerned that E lacked the capacity to consent to the termination herself.

Under Queensland law a parent cannot consent to an abortion on behalf of an underage child, meaning the court had to decide whether E could consent herself.

“Historically, children have had no capacity at all to consent or refuse treatment,” Justice Catherine Muir wrote.

“This was always within their parents’ remit. Now the law recognises that there are certain developmental stages relevant to a young person’s ability to consent to medical care.”

Hospital staff asked the court to make an order on the abortion. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Peled

The court heard E immediately desired an abortion after learning of her pregnancy and she already made an attempt using an abortion tablet from a pharmacy.

“In terms of her father, E says she is fearful he will ‘lose it’ if he finds out she is pregnant, and her mother shares that concern,” Justice Muir wrote.

Despite recently exhibiting some “immature behaviour”, including being suspended from school for swearing at a teacher, Justice Muir said E’s mother described her as a “bright and intelligent young individual with a promising future ahead of her”.

“This is consistent with how E presented before me today, expressing a desire to move forward with her life and to focus on her education,” she wrote.

“I expect that the experience of having to come to court has also been an opportunity for E to really reflect on her life moving forward.”

Stock picture of an unidentified young girl.

She said: “Critically, E was able to explain to me what she understood she was doing by choosing to terminate the baby, and also that there were risks with this procedure, including bleeding, risks for future pregnancy, cramping and infection”.

Concerns were raised by a psychologist, an obstetrician and gynaecologist and a midwife over E’s capacity to understand the procedure and its risks, the court heard.

Justice Muir noted that E first got her period at age nine and, as stated by her mother, that was consistent of having knowledge of her body and how it functioned.

“This application really seemed to distil down to the concern of the hospital staff about E’s understanding of the risks associated with this surgery, and that, I accept, is an understandable concern.

“But having now heard from E in court, I am satisfied that she does sufficiently understand not only what is proposed, that is the surgical termination, but also the risks of having that termination, particularly the risks such as the bleeding and the consequences for further pregnancy, although, again, I note that the proceduralist assesses those risks as not being significant in this case.”

Originally published as Queensland court grants girl, 12, an abortion