Supreme Court allows 12-year-old Queensland girl to have abortion

A YOUNG girl from Rockhampton has been permitted by the Queensland Supreme Court to have an abortion.

The 12-year-old girl was considered mature enough to consent to having the abortion.

A 12-YEAR-OLD Rockhampton girl has been permitted by the Queensland Supreme Court to have an abortion, after she fell pregnant to another child of a similar age.

The girl has spent a month trying to get an abortion, first speaking to a GP, then a social worker, two specialist obstetricians and a psychiatrist, before the court stepped in.

Abortion is legal in Queensland and is allowed up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. It can be performed if the woman is at risk of serious danger to her life or health, both physical and mental.

Judge Duncan McMeekin told the court the girl says she has experienced “periods of emotional distress”, has run away from home, cut herself and attempted suicide on two occasions.

“She has no wish to be a mother. Unsurprisingly, she feels that she is not fitted to the task,’’ Justice McMeekin said, The Australian reports.

“While termination of the pregnancy carries some risks, those risks are far outweighed by the alternative. It is necessary to do so in order to avoid danger to her mental and physical health.”

The alleged father of the unborn baby was unaware of the pregnancy, the court heard.

A psychiatrist who examined the girl, known only as ‘Q’, encouraged the court to grant permission for an abortion.

“I am concerned that, with her recent history of self-harm and thoughts of suicide, having to ­proceed with the pregnancy is likely to precipitate further similar ­decompensations in (the girl) and an increased risk of resuming patterns of self-harm,” the psychiatrist told the court.

Both Justice McMeekin and the psychiatrist believed the girl is mature enough to properly consent to the abortion, The Courier Mail reports.

Justice McMeekin has ordered medical staff to terminate the pregnancy by use of drugs, and if that fails, by surgical procedure.