In re T, 10 July 1987.
The subject of these proceedings was a nineteen year old severely mentally handicapped woman who had become pregnant, despite the close supervision of her mother and others. Her mother sought to have an abortion and sterilization performed since a psychiatrist found her daughter to have no comprehension of pregnancy and to be incapable of caring for a child. Unlike the case In re B (a Minor), the daughter had reached the age of majority and could not be made a ward of the court; thus there was no one to give consent to the operations. Nonetheless, the Court authorized the operations. It ruled that in exceptional cases when there was no one to consent and when a patient is suffering from a mental abnormality that prevents the giving of consent, a court can authorize operations consistent with good medical practice.
D000028:Abortion, Induced; D001519:Behavior; D019049:Developed Countries; D005060:Europe; D005193:Family Planning Services; D007258:Informed Consent; D008607:Intellectual Disability; D007360:Intelligence; D007603:Jurisprudence; D010551:Personality; D011584:Psychology; D013245:Sterilization, Reproductive; D006113:United Kingdom
Abortion, Induced--legal aspects; Behavior; Court Decision; Developed Countries; Europe; Family Planning; Fertility Control, Postconception; Informed Consent--legal aspects; Intelligence; Mental Retardation--legal aspects; Northern Europe; Personality; Psychological Factors; Sterilization, Sexual--legal aspects; United Kingdom