Woman with mental age of child must have abortion against her will, court rules

A judge has ruled that a pregnant woman with limited mental capacity must have an abortion.

The woman is in her twenties and 22 weeks pregnant but has the mental age of a child aged between six and nine, the court heard.

A police investigation into how she fell pregnant is ongoing.

Ms Justice Lieven, the judge overseeing proceedings, heard that the “circumstances of the conception [were] unclear”.

The woman has a mood disorder and a learning disorder. She currently lives with her mother.

The case was heard at the Court of Protection, where issues relating to people with reduced mental capacity are decided.

The judge said evidence indicated the woman wanted to keep the baby.

She ruled that an abortion should still be carried out, as a balance of evidence showed that a termination was in the woman’s best interests.

“I am acutely conscious of the fact that for the state to order a woman to have a termination where it appears that she doesn’t want it is an immense intrusion,” she said.

“I have to operate in [her] best interests, not on society’s views of termination.”

The woman’s mother, a former midwife who opposes abortion, had offered to care for the child with her daughter’s help.

But the judge pointed out that social workers were unlikely to accept this, because of the risks posed by the woman’s psychological limitations.

She said that if the baby stayed with the mother, the woman might have to leave her home.

The baby might also have to live with foster carers or be placed for adoption.

“I think [she] would suffer greater trauma from having a baby removed,” Ms Justice Lieven said.

“It would at that stage be a real baby.

“Pregnancy, although real to her, doesn’t have a baby outside her body she can touch.”

The NHS Trust which oversees the woman’s care had asked the court to proceed with an abortion, though a social worker and lawyers acting on behalf of the woman said the pregnancy should continue.

The judge said she had to make an “enormous” decision on the basis of what was best for the woman and that some of the evidence heard was “heartbreaking”.

She noted that the woman had no sense of what having a baby meant.

“I think she would like to have a baby in the same way she would like to have a nice doll,” she said.

The pregnant woman lives in the London area but cannot be publicly named.

Additional reporting by agencies