Paraguayan authorities have denied a 10 year old girl abortion who was being raped by her step-father. Her mother reported the abuse to authorities but was ignored. The child reported abdominal pains and her stomach began to swell- her mother, thinking something was wrong took the child to the hospital and discovered the child was pregnant.
The mother requested an abortion but was arrested and imprisoned for apparently being a bad parent and allegedly an accomplice of the crime.
Despite pleas from the girl’s mother and international outcry, senior medical officials in Asunción told the Guardian that more than 22 weeks into the pregnancy, there are no health risks that would allow doctors to circumvent the Catholic country’s stringent anti-abortion laws.
Lilian Soto, a feminist activist at the Centro de Documentación y Estudios (Centre of Documentation and Studies), said the Paraguayan judicial system had failed the girl, unfairly punished the mother and put a minor’s life at risk because of religious sentiments.
“When you consider the threat to life and the anatomical and psychological risks, the first step that should be taken in pregnancies of girls under the age of 13 should be an abortion. This is what the authorities fail to understand,” said Soto. “That girl is now alone … the Paraguayan state has a clear responsibility for that.”
Authorities spokes person Lida Sosa, director of healthcare programs at the ministry of public health and wellness, said “Right now, there is no reason to interrupt the pregnancy, In fact, given the stage of the pregnancy, it’s even more dangerous for the girl to abort without a well-considered medical, obstetrical evaluation.”
The little girl is in the custody of the state authorities alone and being forced to carry the pregnancy to term.
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