How a suicidal girl seeking an abortion came to be sectioned

IT emerged this week that a suicidal pregnant girl was ‘sectioned’ on a psychiatric ward and later released. This is what is known: A girl becomes pregnant and says she feels suicidal. • A psychiatrist assesses her and finds, under the Mental Health Act, she has a mental health disorder, and a termination is ‘not the solution for all of the child’s problems at that stage’. • A District Court order is issued for her to be involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric ward. A child and adolescent psychiatrist says, on arrival, they were expecting a termination appointment. • A courtappointed Guardian ad Litem has the girl reassessed by a third psychiatrist who finds she doesn’t have a mental illness. A guardian is also appointed for the unborn child. • The girl is kept on the ward for ‘several days’. A judge dismisses the admission order. It’s not known if she had a termination.