CS (Termination of Pregnancy)

Facts

CS is a young woman with two children who, until shortly before Christmas, was in a relationship with the father of her younger child, a relationship said to have become characterised by domestic violence. In early December 2015 she discovered she was pregnant by her partner and told a number of people, including her sister, that she did not intend to keep the baby, wanted an abortion and wanted her sister to accompany her to the clinic, as her sister had done for an earlier termination some years before. A day or so after that conversation with her sister she was allegedly violently assaulted by her partner and sustained serious injuries, including fractures, intracranial bleeding and brain damage. Her partner was arrested and remanded in custody, criminal proceedings being likely. CS was admitted to a hospital run by the applicant Trust, where she remained, agitated, restless and suffering post-traumatic amnesia. Because the window for a surgical termination was about to expire, the Trust applied to the Court of Protection for declarations that CS lacked capacity and that termination was in her best interests. The application was filed that week; at an earlier hearing Baker J gave directions, including inviting the Official Solicitor to act as litigation friend, and the matter returned for a full hearing.