CCPR/C/116/D/2324/2013 pregnancy and the trauma of travelling abroad for termination of the pregnancy. While the hospital offers such counselling to couples who have suffered a spontaneous stillbirth, the service does not extend to those who choose to terminate a pregnancy as a result of fatal fetal impairments. Eventually she received post-abortion counselling at the family planning organization, but not bereavement counselling. She still suffers from complicated grief and unresolved trauma and says she would have been able to accept her loss better if she had not had to endure the pain and shame of travelling abroad.2 The complaint Claims under article 7 3.1 The application of the abortion law of Ireland subjected the author to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and encroached on her dignity and physical and mental integrity by: (a) denying her the reproductive health care and bereavement support she needed; (b) forcing her to continue carrying a dying fetus; (c) compelling her to terminate her pregnancy abroad; and (d) subjecting her to intense stigma. 3.2 Once the author had expressed her decision to terminate her pregnancy, the healthcare personnel refused to provide her with the health care and support she needed. The expectation of care that she had formed as a patient of the Rotunda Hospital, her extreme vulnerability upon learning that her baby would die and the prospect of then having to terminate a much-wanted pregnancy abroad, with no support from the Irish health-care system, all illustrate that her mental anguish at being denied abortion services in Ireland rose to the level of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The failure of the hospital to offer her bereavement counselling before and after the termination hampered her ability to cope with her trauma. She was not offered acknowledgement or support to help her to adapt psychologically, grieve normally and rebuild her life. That failure was exacerbated by the fact that the hospital provides bereavement services to women who face fatal fetal impairments but choose to carry to term. The hospital thus makes a distinction and treats women who travel for termination as less deserving of support. 3.3 After learning that the fetus was dying, the author was tormented for the next 21 days by the question of whether it had died within her and the fear that she would go into labour and give birth, only to subject her child to suffering and watch it die. She would have been spared this added level of anxiety had she had timely access to abortion services. The travel abroad was also a significant source of added anxiety and exposed her to obstacles which impinged on her physical and mental integrity and dignity. She had to make preparations for the travel; was deprived of the support of her family; had to stay in a foreign and uncomfortable environment while in Liverpool; and had to spend a sum of money which was difficult for her to raise. While waiting at the airport to fly home, only 12 hours after the termination, she was bleeding, weak and light-headed. The hospital in Liverpool did not offer any options regarding the baby’s remains and the author was compelled to leave them behind. She received the ashes, unexpectedly, three weeks later by 2 The author submits a declaration by Joan Lalor, Associate Professor of Midwifery at Trinity College Dublin in which she concludes “that the current legal situation regarding the prohibition of termination of pregnancy for women with a diagnosis of fetal abnormality has led to intense suffering in Amanda’s case and has severely impacted her ability to process her complicated grief. This situation will continue to cause additional unnecessary trauma leading to complicated grief for women in Ireland which is not experienced by women domiciled in countries where termination of pregnancy is legal”. A medico-legal report by a clinical psychologist, Dr. Patel, was also submitted, indicating the psychological difficulties suffered by the author as a result of the trauma surrounding the end of her pregnancy. 3