Anencephalic

What do you think of the following situation reported on the BBC news web site?

"A 17-year-old pregnant Irish girl is appearing in the High Court in Dublin to press for the right to travel to Britain for an abortion.

Doctors have told the girl that her four-month foetus will not live more than a few days beyond birth.

She is in the care of Ireland's health service which has issued an order stopping her from going to Britain.

But a lawyer for the girl argued that the health authority had no right to stop her travelling.

Eoghan Fitzsimons told the court that police had responded to a request by the Health Service Executive (HSE) to prevent her leaving the country, saying they could not and would not do so without a court order.

Abortion is illegal in Ireland except where the mother's life is threatened by a medical condition or suicide."

Many women in Ireland go abroad for abortions, but this teen was not even able to do that without going to court for the right to travel to England in order to terminate her four month old pregnancy. She did not want to carry to term an infant who would die during birth or soon afterward, one that was missing a large portion of its brain and skull.

Would it not be more humane to both mother and child to abort as early in the pregnancy as possible rather than force this young woman to carry to term a baby who could not possibly survive more than three days? Would it not be safer for the mother as well?

Fortunately, at least I think so, she did win her court case. But, why put her through this?

Some mothers, however, do choose to carry their anencephalic babies to full term, kmowing they will die at birth or within a few days. An information and support site for carrying an enephalic to term that has quite a bit of information is at: http://www.prenatalpartnersforlife.org/Stories/AnencephalyStoriesIndex.htm

I believe that we need to support the mother's right to choose whether to carry an anencephalic baby to term or not, providing safe and speedy access to abortion for those who choose it, and support and kindness to those who choose to carry the baby to term.

What do you think?

What can we do to make it better for both mothers? For other family members?