This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

Jane is a thirty-year-old woman who has 'moderate mental retardation and . . . an adjustment disorder with mixed emotional features.' She has an IQ in the mid-fifties and functions mentally at the level of a three to four-year-old child, although a four-year-old would have more cognitive energy for problem-solving. It would take many years to teach the ward to cook an egg. In addition to her mental retardation, the ward since age six has suffered from seizures. Her seizure disorder is alleviated by daily administration of 200 mg. of Tegretol and Primidone. Jane's condition is marked by a proclivity of hitting, kicking, scratching, biting, and ripping clothes off. Staff members are repeatedly injured trying to calm her. The outbursts occur when Jane is frustrated in any way, particularly by a break in her routine. Jane is pregnant, and she does not seem to understand what that condition means. The judge turned to other factors to ascertain the needs and wants of the ward. The judge relied principally on the evidence given by Dr. Hurley. She anticipated an acute and possibly irretrievable deterioration in the ward's mental condition were the pregnancy allowed to proceed. Dr. Hurley thought there was nothing positive in going through a pregnancy for this individual. An abortion, Dr. Hurley further testified, was also not without risk. The uncomfortable and frightening aspects of that procedure might cause the ward to disintegrate into a psychotic state. The judge determined, the ward's 'decision, if competent, would be not to consent to an abortion.' This appeal resulted.

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