Anglican curate fights for aborted baby.West Midlands West Midlands, former metropolitan county, central England. Created in the 1974 local government reorganization, the county embraced the Birmingham conurbation and comprised seven metropolitan districts: Walsall, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell, Birmingham, Solihull, -- West Mercia police in Britain have been ordered to carry out an investigation into the death by abortion of a six-month-old preborn child. The baby was aborted at the request of its parents at a hospital in Hereford in 2001. At the time, the mother was more than 24 weeks' pregnant. In Britain, abortions are limited to less than that, except in cases of serious disability; the baby in question had been diagnosed as having a cleft palate cleft palate, incomplete fusion of bones of the palate. The cleft may be confined to the soft palate at the back of the mouth; it may include the hard palate, or roof of the mouth; or it may extend through the gum and lip, producing a gap in the teeth and a cleft , not a major problem. The case was brought to police attention by Rev. Joanna Jepson, curate CURATE, eccl. law. One who represents the incumbent of a church, person, or20 vicar, and takes care of the church, and performs divine service in his stead. at St. Michael's Anglican Church, Chester. She herself had been born with a facial deformity Deformity See also Lameness. Calmady, Sir Richard born without lower legs. [Br. Lit.: Sir Richard Calmady, Walsh Modern, 84] Carey, Philip embittered young man with club foot seeks fulfillment. [Br. Lit. which had been corrected by surgery when she was in her teens. She also has a brother with Down's syndrome. In these circumstances, Miss Jepson challenges the perception of a cleft palate as a serious handicap. Such an abortion, she asserts, raises the "increasingly worrying concern of eugenics eugenics (y  jĕn`ĭks), study of human genetics and of methods to improve the inherited characteristics, physical and mental, of the human race. in our society." The police initially refused to investigate the case, apparently after consultation with the vice-president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and other prenatal experts. Through her lawyer, Miss Jepson then applied to a lower court for an investigation; this too was rejected. She fought on and in December 2003 was successful in having the High Court support her case. How this affair now proceeds will obviously turn upon how the British law defines "serious disability." Cleft palate and the related condition, harelip harelip, congenital abnormality in which there is a cleft or split in the upper lip. There may be a single opening in the middle portion of the lip or an opening on each side. , are fairly common in babies and can be corrected routinely by surgery. When Britain's abortion law was modified in 1990 with the 24-week gestation limit, the concept of "serious disability" was not defined (somewhat analagous to Canada's Parliament not defining "sexual orientation sexual orientation n. The direction of one's sexual interest toward members of the same, opposite, or both sexes, especially a direction seen to be dictated by physiologic rather than sociologic forces. " in its Charter of Rights legislation). As several commentators noted at the time, the result was a loosening of restrictions and abortion rights up to birth, for whatever reason. (Nat. Post, Tor. Sun, The Telegraph) |
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