Heartbreak relived Catholic Church
Title: Heartbreak relived: Catholic Church seeks abuse victim’s abortion record
A woman who was sexually abused by a Catholic priest says the church is now trying to subpoena deeply personal medical records, including of an unrelated abortion, as part of her lawsuit against the archbishop.The woman, a former teacher now aged 60, is suing the Melbourne archiocese over allegations the abuse her parish priest subjected her to from the age of 13 caused psychiatric injury, including post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
The survivor and her lawyers say, while the church accepted she was sexually assaulted by Preston assistant priest Father Francis Thorp in the 1970s, its legal team intends to subpoena sensitive medical records as part of the claim.
The records flagged for subpoena include information about a termination she had when she was in her late 20s, a decade after the abuse ceased, a contraceptive device she had implanted and her obstetric records.
The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told The Age the records were “absolutely irrelevant” to her claim against the archdiocese.
“My husband and I made a choice 35 years ago,” she said.
“It was a heart-breaking decision. And now I have to explain myself again.”
She said she and husband chose to undergo the procedure as she had two infants, one of whom was a few months old, and she was struggling with depression and trauma.