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Abortion Beyond the 24 Week Limit

The Times reported on a curate, Rev. Joanna Jepson, who won the right to launch a judicial review into a case where a woman had a late abortion because her foetus had a cleft palate.

Rev. Joanna Jepson claims that the termination breached the law and was an alarming example of the "cult of physical perfection." Miss Jepson will try to show that a cleft palate is not a "serious handicap", the legal ground for having an abortion after the normal 24 week limit.

The High Court also gave the curate of St. Michael's Church in Chester permission to challenge the refusal of Paul West, the chief Constable of West Mercia, to bring a prosecution against the doctors who approved and performed the operation.

It was carried out in 2001 when the woman from Herefordshire, who has not been named, was more than 24 weeks pregnant and a scan revealed her foetus had a cleft palate. The doctors discussed the condition with the mother and it was decided that it justified an abortion.

Miss Jepson, emerging from the High Court in London, said that the law needed to state clearly what "serious handicap" merited an abortion.

Referring to her three operations to correct a congenital jaw defect and to her 25-year old brother, Alastair, she said, "My teenage years were difficult due to facial abnormality. I also have a brother with Down's Syndrome. We both live positive and fulfilling lives. The baby in this case did not have this opportunity, despite the availability of excellent and routine medical help. The benefits of this surgery would have been positive for both the child and family... I hope we shall succeed at trial and recognise once again the value and dignity of our common humanity, disabled or able-bodied, no matter what we look like."

Richard Gordon, appearing for Miss Jepson, told the court that the police decision not to prosecute was flawed. He said further investigations should have been carried out because an abortion could not be justified under the 1967 Abortion Act on the basis that cleft lip was a "serious handicap." He also said that the parents' views were irrelevant, and the Royal Colleges had failed to follow guidelines.