Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Irish face referendum on abortion laws Date: Tue, 24 Nov 92 14:12:10 EST Message-ID: Lines: 71 \SE A;WORLD \SS (WS) \HD Irish face referendum on abortion laws \BY Wendy Holden \CR LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH \DT LONDON LONDON - As the people of the Irish Republic go the polls this week and vote in the controversial referendum to change the abortion laws, few will realize that the 14-year-old rape victim who first triggered the debate did not have an abortion after all. Despite winning a Supreme Court appeal in February that overturned a High Court ban on her traveling to Britain for an abortion, the schoolgirl had a miscarriage at 14 weeks. "It came as a tremendous relief for the girl and her parents," said a source close to the family. "As devout Catholics, they regarded it as a welcome intervention of fate at the end of what was a harrowing and traumatic ordeal." The unexpected miscarriage followed the taking of a forensic sample from the fetus for DNA testing through a process known as chorion villius sampling (CVS). In an effort by police and the family to establish the identity of her attacker before the planned abortion went ahead, the girl traveled to Britain in early March for the hospital test that involved taking a small sample of the tissue of the womb lining. This was then packed in ice and sent for DNA testing. The genetic makeup of blood taken from the man accused of assaulting the girl was compared with that of the CVS tissue and the results sent back to Ireland to form part of the prosecution's case. A 42-year-old businessman from south Dublin has been charged with nine offences of sexual assault and of having unlawful carnal knowledge with the girl. He is expected to face trial early next year. The alleged assaults took place over two years at his home and in the surrounding area. Married with children, he denies the charges. The girl, who is now 15, has moved away from the area and started at a new school. Ten days ago she appeared at a pretrial hearing and gave details of each of the alleged assaults. Her parents and those who have been counseling her since her pregnancy say she has made "remarkable progress" and is expected to recover fully from her ordeal. They believe the miscarriage was preferable to an abortion. It is a well-known risk of CVS and a similar process known as amniocentesis that the fetus may miscarry. British statistics put the chances of it happening at between one in 250 and one in 1,000. The issue of whether the girl had the abortion she and her family fought so hard for is not thought likely to affect the voting in the referendum. A survey published Saturday in the Irish Times found two parts of the three-part referendum are likely to pass - one dealing with the right to travel to other nations where abortions are avaliable and the other permitting information about abortion to be distributed in Ireland. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM