Late on Friday, a British judge ordered a mother to have an abortion, despite the fact she was opposed to ending the life of her unborn baby.

The mother has a learning disability and is 22 weeks pregnant. She is understood to be in her 20s and there is an ongoing investigation into the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy.

Doctors want an abortion, but social worker disagrees

Medics are claiming that an abortion in her best interests. Concerns have been expressed about the mother’s ability to look after the child.

But strikingly, the mother’s social worker even disagrees with the doctors and said the pregnancy should continue. According to the woman’s legal team, there is ‘no proper evidence’ for their claim.

Grandmother willing to care for baby

Her grandmother has offered to look after the baby, and she has also said doctors have underestimated her daughter’s ability and level of understanding.

But in a ruling that will prove controversial, Mrs Justice Lieven said she thought it would be too difficult for the grandmother to look after both her daughter and granddaughter.

Judge admits decision is ‘immense intrusion’

In a chilling acknowledgement, the judge even admitted she was “acutely conscious of the fact that for the State to order a woman to have a termination where it appears that doesn’t want it is an immense intrusion.”

Even after admitting this concession, she then ordered that the woman have a termination.

Judge’s past support for abortion

According to CitizenGo, the judge has a history where her support for abortion has been very much in evidence and as such, they say she was the wrong person to adjudicate the case.

Lieven has represented the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, Britain’s largest abortion provider and she also argued in 2016 that NI’s life-affirming laws were discriminatory.

Our response

This is an absolutely tragic case. Forcing a woman to have an abortion against her will simply cannot be justified. In this case, the grandmother is willing to help, the social worker disagrees with the recommendation of the medics and the judge even admits her ruling is an ‘immense intrusion’ by the State. And what about the rights of the unborn baby? This is a viable pregnancy, but yet again the voice of the defenceless baby in the womb is simply not heard. It’s a chilling decision and it’s crucial as many people as possible sign the petition, calling on the Health Secretary to intervene and stop this.

Take action

CitizenGo have launched a petition, calling on the Health Secretary Matt Hancock to intervene in this case to do all he can to prevent this overreach of the State.

You can sign the petition here.