A High Court judge and expert in the field of family law has ruled that a pregnant 13 year old girl is allowed to decide for herself whether or not she wishes to have an abortion, or carry her pregnancy into full-term.
Mr Justice Mostyn has ruled that on the basis of a psychiatric review, a young teenager from the North of England has 'sufficient understand and intelligence' to be given autonomy over her pregnancy. 'It will now be for her to decide what she wishes to do' he said.
The case of the unnamed girl - who is thought to be almost 6 months pregnant - came around in the last few weeks, after the her grandmother detected a burgeoning bump and the health authorities were unsure as to whether she had 'the appropriate capacity' to make her own decision regarding the foetus.
The judge admitted that although he believes the teenage to be capable of making an informed choice for herself, that she will need both plenty of support - regardless of the decision she makes.
'It goes without saying that should she go through with a termination her family will need to be at her side and to assist her and support her after what is inevitably going to be an unpleasant and traumatic'. Equally, 'if she decides to continue with the pregnancy, then I am expecting that her family and, indeed Social Services will give her considerable support.'
It has not been reported what the reaction of the girl's family was, to the ruling.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.