Victoria D. M. Gillick (née Gudgeon; born 1946, in Hendon) is a British activist and campaigner best known for the eponymous 1985 UK House of Lords ruling[1] that considered whether contraception could be prescribed to under-16s without parental consent or knowledge.
The ruling established the term "Gillick competence" to describe whether a young person below the age of 16 is able to consent to his or her own medical treatment, without the need for parental permission or knowledge.
A Roman Catholic mother of 10 children (five sons, five daughters), Gillick began her campaign in 1980 in response to a DHSS circular issuing guidance on contraceptive stating a minor could consent to treatment, and that in these circumstances a parent had no power to veto treatment.
[citation needed] In 2000, Gillick lost a libel action[2] against the Brook Advisory Centres, which she claimed accused her of being "morally responsible" for a rise in teenage pregnancies.
This biographical article about a United Kingdom activist is a stub.