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Pregnant Irish Teen Wins Abortion Battle
ITV NEWS ^ | 3.20, Wed May 9 2007 | ITV

Posted on 05/09/2007 8:00:08 AM PDT by fight_truth_decay

An Irish teenager who has fought an ongoing battle to come to Britain for an abortion has been granted permission to travel by the High Court in Dublin.

The unnamed 17-year-old, known only as "Miss D" who is four months' pregnant, had previously been denied the right to leave the country by Ireland's Health Service Executive, which had the girl in its care.

The authorities pledged to call the police and stop the teenager from undergoing the operation, so the girl went to the High Court in the hope of being granted permission to travel.

The unborn child has a condition meaning a major part of the brain, scalp and skull is missing and is only expected to survive for a few days after birth.

Opening the case, Eoghan Fitzsimons SC, for Miss D, told the court that it seems "to be most inhumane" to expect her to carry her baby full term.

Mr Fitzsimons told the court that if Miss D was not in the care of the HSE and her parents supported her decision for abortion, there was nothing to stop her travelling.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: abortion; dublin; ireland; missd
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The girl's mother and her boyfriend both support her decision to terminate the pregnancy.

Irish law outlaws abortion unless there is a real risk to the life of the mother, including suicide. But Miss D has insisted she is not suicidal.

Around 7,000 Irish women travel to Britain each year for an abortion.

Denying Irish teen an abortion is 'cruel' 3.03, Thu May 3 2007 http://www.itv.com/news/ec6446cf348648cd6913f59e660d7a45.html

Your comments:

1 posted on 05/09/2007 8:00:09 AM PDT by fight_truth_decay
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To: fight_truth_decay
The unborn child has a condition meaning a major part of the brain, scalp and skull is missing and is only expected to survive for a few days after birth.

Terrible.
2 posted on 05/09/2007 8:02:51 AM PDT by kinoxi
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To: fight_truth_decay

My comment, she should give birth to the child, bring the child here, & my family will take care of it after it is born.


3 posted on 05/09/2007 8:05:02 AM PDT by MD_Willington_1976
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To: fight_truth_decay
The authorities pledged to call the police and stop the teenager from undergoing the operation,

Silly rabbit. An abortion is a "procedure," not an "operation."

4 posted on 05/09/2007 8:05:16 AM PDT by presidio9 (Islam is as Islam does.)
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To: MD_Willington_1976

..expected to survive for a few days after birth


5 posted on 05/09/2007 8:07:00 AM PDT by fight_truth_decay
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To: fight_truth_decay
...who is four months' pregnant...

Murder.

6 posted on 05/09/2007 8:07:11 AM PDT by Inquisitive1
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To: kinoxi

It is terrible that the child would only live a few days after birth, but that is justify killing the baby. I have a nephew with Downs Syndrome. Thank God his mother didn’t decide to kill him because he wasn’t perfect...


7 posted on 05/09/2007 8:07:31 AM PDT by seamusnh
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To: Inquisitive1
...who is four months' pregnant...

Blame that on the courts

8 posted on 05/09/2007 8:08:31 AM PDT by fight_truth_decay
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To: fight_truth_decay
"The unborn child has a condition meaning a major part of the brain, scalp and skull is missing and is only expected to survive for a few days after birth."

Everyone seems to be in agreement that they are speaking of a CHILD!!

Let's speak with truth then - this is murder!!

9 posted on 05/09/2007 8:09:08 AM PDT by LADY J
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To: fight_truth_decay

Its not a very good situation any way you look at it.


10 posted on 05/09/2007 8:09:41 AM PDT by Vanders9
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To: seamusnh
..."major part of the brain, scalp and skull is missing and is only expected to survive for a few days after birth."
11 posted on 05/09/2007 8:10:15 AM PDT by fight_truth_decay
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To: fight_truth_decay

Does anybody have a problem with the government stopping her from leaving the country?


12 posted on 05/09/2007 8:12:19 AM PDT by gracesdad
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To: fight_truth_decay
The authorities pledged to call the police and stop the teenager from undergoing the operation, so the girl went to the High Court in the hope of being granted permission to travel.

Permission to travel?

The unnamed 17-year-old, known only as "Miss D" who is four months' pregnant, had previously been denied the right to leave the country by Ireland's Health Service Executive, which had the girl in its care.

Hmmmm

13 posted on 05/09/2007 8:12:28 AM PDT by M203M4 (There ought NOT to be a law.)
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To: MD_Willington_1976

The unfortunate unborn child is as good as dead already, his or her skull and brain are missing. The brain is the seat of consciousness, and there’s nothing there. Do you oppose removal of life-support for brain-dead individuals? Because that’s what’s going on here. It’s fine if you do, but we should be clear about the facts of the situation.

Carrying a not merely brain-dead, but brain-less baby to full term just so he or she can die within a matter of days is not without risks to the long-term health and fertility of the mother, either.


14 posted on 05/09/2007 8:12:34 AM PDT by mvpel (Michael Pelletier)
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To: Vanders9

I agree.

They could easily have washed their hands of this mess by allowing her to come to britain a lonf while ago instead of hounding this poor girl through the courts.

I believe there was a similar case back at the start of the 90s where a girl, that had been raped was denied an abortion because of the quite draconian laws with regard abortion they adopt in Ireland.


15 posted on 05/09/2007 8:13:42 AM PDT by UKrepublican
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To: LADY J
Let's speak with truth then - this is murder!!

It's possible to end the life of a human being without it being murder. Removal of life-support from a brain-dead individual is not considered murder anywhere in this country.

16 posted on 05/09/2007 8:14:10 AM PDT by mvpel (Michael Pelletier)
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To: gracesdad

That was the first thing that set of alarms. Would this still be the case if she was 18+?


17 posted on 05/09/2007 8:14:34 AM PDT by M203M4 (There ought NOT to be a law.)
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To: mvpel

The problem with the “choice” people is that they use “grey” situations like this one to support any and all killing of the unborn.


18 posted on 05/09/2007 8:14:40 AM PDT by MrB (You can't reason people out of a position that they didn't use reason to get into in the first place)
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To: mvpel

Good point. Many who might oppose this abortion might not realize that if this amount of damage resulted from an injury, the person would be taken off life support.


19 posted on 05/09/2007 8:15:13 AM PDT by retMD
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To: fight_truth_decay; MHGinTN
Hmmn.

The pregnant teenager “wins” the battle. According to the “unbiased” MSM head at least.

But the baby loses it life.

20 posted on 05/09/2007 8:15:21 AM PDT by Robert A. Cook, PE (I can only donate monthly, but Hillary's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
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To: gracesdad
Does anybody have a problem with the government stopping her from leaving the country?

I sure as hell do. The government of Ireland is treating her womb like State Property.

21 posted on 05/09/2007 8:15:23 AM PDT by mvpel (Michael Pelletier)
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To: fight_truth_decay
The unborn child has a condition meaning a major part of the brain, scalp and skull is missing and is only expected to survive for a few days after birth.

I see. So instead of letting the child die naturally (IF the doctor is correct), just murder it.

The world is full of evil.

22 posted on 05/09/2007 8:15:29 AM PDT by MEGoody (Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.)
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To: gracesdad
Does anybody have a problem with the government stopping her from leaving the country?

In general, I would have a problem with that. However, I can't help but think if a government knows someone is leaving the country with the intent to commit murder, that government should stop the individual. And that is the case here.

23 posted on 05/09/2007 8:17:40 AM PDT by MEGoody (Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.)
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To: Vanders9
This “medical condition of the unborn and prognosis for the child’s future” is where many against abortion might, in this case, become a turncoat and side with the Dublin teen and High Court’s decision.
24 posted on 05/09/2007 8:19:17 AM PDT by fight_truth_decay
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To: mvpel

>>Carrying a not merely brain-dead, but brain-less baby to full term just so he or she can die within a matter of days is not without risks to the long-term health and fertility of the mother, either.<<

How about a reference to that? And not from Planned Parenthood.
That baby’s body is growing and living without his/her own brain.
My sister gave birth to a child with this disorder. All they had to do was watch that the baby did not die on his own. He moved, he wiggled and had a heartbeat. She had a live birth and the baby lived an hour and a half.
She could carry this baby to term but is chosing not to. This is a hard one but let’s keeo the facts here.


25 posted on 05/09/2007 8:20:24 AM PDT by netmilsmom (To attack one section of Christianity in this day and age, is to waste time.)
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To: fight_truth_decay

The pro-aborts uses cases like these to justify infanticide. Most of the abortions are because the baby just isn’t “convenient” to have at this time.


26 posted on 05/09/2007 8:20:46 AM PDT by MuttTheHoople
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To: fight_truth_decay
Anencephaly is a cephalic disorder that results from a neural tube defect that occurs when the cephalic (head) end of the neural tube fails to close, usually between the 23rd and 26th day of pregnancy, resulting in the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull, and scalp. Infants with this disorder are born without a forebrain, the largest part of the brain consisting mainly of the cerebral hemispheres (which include the isocortex, which is responsible for higher level cognition, i.e., thinking). The remaining brain tissue is often exposed - not covered by bone or skin.

There is no cure or standard treatment for anencephaly and the prognosis for affected individuals is poor. Most anencephalic babies do not survive birth, accounting for 55% of non-aborted cases. If the infant is not stillborn, then he or she will usually die within a few hours or days after birth from cardiorespiratory arrest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anencephaly

27 posted on 05/09/2007 8:22:24 AM PDT by AdmSmith
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To: fight_truth_decay

I haven’t seen anyone address the other big question. What is a 17 year old doing getting pregnant ?


28 posted on 05/09/2007 8:23:58 AM PDT by HarmlessLovableFuzzball
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To: mvpel

I once worked with a child with a condition similar to this. There is really no hope, but possibly the child’s heart or other organs could help save other lives. Don’t know, but it is a very tough call.


29 posted on 05/09/2007 8:24:11 AM PDT by w1andsodidwe (Jimmy Carter allowed radical Islam to get a foothold in Iran.)
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To: HarmlessLovableFuzzball
What is a 17 year old doing getting pregnant ?

I guess that you know the answer.
30 posted on 05/09/2007 8:25:21 AM PDT by AdmSmith
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To: MEGoody

‘with the intent to commit murder, that government should stop the individual. And that is the case here.’

The child has no brain, skull or scalp. It is not alive as it’s brain is missing, therefore it’s removal from the mother is no more murder than a still birth is. If it even had one half of a percent chance of survival, you would be correct, but it does not.


31 posted on 05/09/2007 8:25:45 AM PDT by britemp
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To: w1andsodidwe

>>There is really no hope, but possibly the child’s heart or other organs could help save other lives. <<

Exactly!
That baby could either end up in a sink or be the gift of life for many other babies.
The first option gives the mother instant gratification.
The second gives her joy for a lifetime.


32 posted on 05/09/2007 8:27:06 AM PDT by netmilsmom (To attack one section of Christianity in this day and age, is to waste time.)
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To: MEGoody

“In general, I would have a problem with that. However, I can’t help but think if a government knows someone is leaving the country with the intent to commit murder, that government should stop the individual. And that is the case here.”

But she’s going to a country where this form of murder is legal.

If Roe v Wade is overturned and abortion becomes a state issue, would you really support a state where it’s been made illegal confining a person to keep her from going to a state where it’s legal for an abortion? I sure wouldn’t.


33 posted on 05/09/2007 8:27:46 AM PDT by gracesdad
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To: netmilsmom

That must have been hard.


34 posted on 05/09/2007 8:27:57 AM PDT by kinoxi
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To: mvpel

The teenager, known only as Miss D, comes from the Leinster region and has been under the guardianship of the HSE - Ireland’s national health service - since March.

Even though she is in care, the girl’s mother, known as Miss A, has come out in support of her daughter’s wish, as has her boyfriend who launched the legal appeal on her behalf since Miss D is still a minor.

Miss D was informed last month that her foetus has anencephaly, a condition which means that a large part of the brain and skull is missing.

Babies with anencephaly live a maximum of just three days after birth.

A psychiatrist appointed by the HSE said that the teenager was distraught at the diagnosis, but not suicidal, and therefore did not meet the criteria for being allowed a termination.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6618911.stm


35 posted on 05/09/2007 8:28:56 AM PDT by fight_truth_decay
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In a 1992 referendum, voters backed two constitutional amendments that allowed people to receive information about English abortion services and to travel there for abortions. But they rejected a third proposed measure to endorse the Supreme Court’s ruling that abortions should be legal in Ireland in life-threatening cases to the pregnant woman.

Since then, four successive Irish governments have refused to pass legislation in line with the Supreme Court verdict.

This has left abortion in legal limbo in the country. While the 1992 judgment means abortions in life-threatening cases should be considered legal here, hospitals have refused to perform the operations because of the risk they could be sued by anti-abortion activists
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2007/05/03/irish_teen_asks_judge_to_allow_abortion/


36 posted on 05/09/2007 8:33:00 AM PDT by fight_truth_decay
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To: mvpel

“You have a choice between Life and Death ....... Choose Life.’


37 posted on 05/09/2007 8:33:33 AM PDT by fella (Respect does not equal fear unless your a tyrant.)
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To: kinoxi

It was very hard. In the end, she felt she made the right decision, keeping her son alive as long as she could.

Two years later, she was pregnant again with her only girl. That baby inhaled fluid during birth and was in the NeoNatal unit for two weeks. All of us would like to think that Christian Elijah watched over his little sister.

And my sister knows that she got her reward for what she did. The nurses were great, put a little hat on him and took pictures for her. He WAS a baby. Not a blob that could be gotten rid of.

Ladies in fertile years, take your folic acid! Lack of folic acid causes neurotubal diseases like this.


38 posted on 05/09/2007 8:34:39 AM PDT by netmilsmom (To attack one section of Christianity in this day and age, is to waste time.)
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To: Robert A. Cook, PE
The pregnant teenager “wins” the battle. According to the “unbiased” MSM head at least. But the baby loses it life.

The baby is as good as dead already. A neural tube defect prevented his or her skull and brain from forming, and the child has no chance of attaining anything resembling consciousness let alone "personhood." The condition is called "anencephaly." Over half of such babies which are not aborted (about 5% of the total) do not survive to birth, and most of the rest die within hours from heart and lung failure, due to the lack of enough brainpower to keep them going - the article's notion of "days" is highly optimistic. One such baby, "Baby K." was kept alive with repeated heroic measures and ventilator support to the tune of $500,000 in 1992 dollars for two and a half years, before the body finally gave out due to heart failure.

Do a web search on "anencephaly" and take a clear look at what the situation here is. It's gruesome and tragic, but that's life sometimes.

"In fact, anencephaly may be one of the few medical conditions that all doctors agree is futile to treat."

It's true, there's a slippery slope and "grey" areas, but the other side of the abortion debate deals with that as well. That's why they couldn't bring themselves to condemn sucking the brains out of a healthy baby, because they feared if they did, they'd have lost a major battle.

Surely those of us who recognize and accept the humanity of the unborn can still refrain from such irrational impulses in the other direction.

39 posted on 05/09/2007 8:36:02 AM PDT by mvpel (Michael Pelletier)
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To: fight_truth_decay

I am so glad we are so enlightened and sophisticated today, as composed to those pathetic, Neanderthal, primitive, superstitious societies where they would sacrifice their children to some god like Moloch. /s


40 posted on 05/09/2007 8:36:42 AM PDT by AmericaUnited
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To: kinoxi

This is horrible.


41 posted on 05/09/2007 8:37:02 AM PDT by Maelstorm (Great assertions require great empirical proof.)
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To: mvpel

Please reread post 32.


42 posted on 05/09/2007 8:37:13 AM PDT by netmilsmom (To attack one section of Christianity in this day and age, is to waste time.)
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To: netmilsmom
How about a reference to that? And not from Planned Parenthood.

A full-term pregnancy and delivery has potential risks and complications. I thought that was a widely-accepted fact, just like there's risks and complications attendant to abortion.

43 posted on 05/09/2007 8:39:06 AM PDT by mvpel (Michael Pelletier)
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To: mvpel

And please stop taking away my nephew’s “personhood”. He may have only lived an hour and a half, but he was just as much of a baby as any other newborn.
He had a pain reflex and moved. He may not have cried but he was very much a person.


44 posted on 05/09/2007 8:39:54 AM PDT by netmilsmom (To attack one section of Christianity in this day and age, is to waste time.)
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To: fight_truth_decay

Shut your legs.


45 posted on 05/09/2007 8:41:08 AM PDT by gathersnomoss
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To: gracesdad
But she’s going to a country where this form of murder is legal.

But the country in which she lives considers it murder. To them, this would be no different from a country that allowed someone to leave knowing that individual was going to a country where it was legal to kill Jews specifically to kill a Jew.

If Roe v Wade is overturned and abortion becomes a state issue, would you really support a state where it’s been made illegal confining a person to keep her from going to a state where it’s legal for an abortion?

I would be busy fighting to ensure that the unborn child was declared a human being at the federal level. Abortion is murder no matter what state you live in.

46 posted on 05/09/2007 8:41:32 AM PDT by MEGoody (Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.)
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To: mvpel

Just cause someone is going to die doesn’t make it right to kill them.

It’s really that simple. What the hell is wrong with giving birth and holding your child while he dies? This teenager doesn’t have to worry about ruining her social life or changing diapers or missing out on college.

All she has to do is be a mother for a day or two. To share some love with a creature that is flesh of her flesh.


47 posted on 05/09/2007 8:42:43 AM PDT by SoothingDave
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To: mvpel

>>A full-term pregnancy and delivery has potential risks and complications. I thought that was a widely-accepted fact, just like there’s risks and complications attendant to abortion.<<

You are drinking the Kool-aid there.
There are risks to pregnancy and delivery but they are not “bigger” than an abortion.
Whether it is a c-section to a live baby or an abortion of a dead one, the procedure does affect the mother. One or the other is not better.

Especially in a healthy mother with no complications. This mother has no complications. Her body is built to carry this baby, not abort it


48 posted on 05/09/2007 8:44:31 AM PDT by netmilsmom (To attack one section of Christianity in this day and age, is to waste time.)
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To: MEGoody
Lots of issues in this particular case! Leaving aside the medical particulars (is a body lacking a brain an individual with human rights? IMO such is death, and the body deserves the respectful treatment of any other human remains)...

In general, I would have a problem with [the government restricting travel]. However, I can't help but think if a government knows someone is leaving the country with the intent to commit murder, that government should stop the individual. And that is the case here.

In this case, her intentions were made known. In general (and probably more frequently because of this case), the woman's intentions will not be divulged.

Should the government restrict the travel of pregnant women? If a pregnant woman leaves the country, and comes back no longer pregnant (and without a child), what then? Should the government launch a murder investigation? If the country of travel supports abortion, they will likely not cooperate with any murder investigation linked to abortion. And this is even assuming that the government knows a woman is pregnant - sometimes you can visibly tell at 3 months, sometimes 5 months, and it is difficult at any time if the woman is extremely obese (short of mandating monthly government checkups for women to maintain a government pregnancy databank - and now we are going way off the totalitarian deep end).

Should the government compel the woman to undergo a medical examination to look for signs of abortion (assuming she says she naturally miscarried - OR if she was late term and said she gave birth and gave the child up for adoption)?

There was also an article posted on FR yesterday about Brits traveling to the Continent (Switzerland I think) to undergo legal assisted suicide (it is illegal in the UK).

49 posted on 05/09/2007 8:45:10 AM PDT by M203M4 (There ought NOT to be a law.)
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To: SoothingDave

God love you Dave.
You got it!


50 posted on 05/09/2007 8:45:33 AM PDT by netmilsmom (To attack one section of Christianity in this day and age, is to waste time.)
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