2 years ago
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Story highlights
- Girl was raped by her stepfather, whom authorities are seeking, prosecutors say
- Paraguayan instrumentality bans abortions but successful cases wherever mother's beingness is successful jeopardy
- Health curate says girl's beingness isn't astatine risk, and that authorities volition oversee her prenatal care
(CNN)An planetary rights radical is pressing the Paraguayan authorities to let an termination for a 10-year-old miss who allegedly was impregnated by her stepfather -- a process that wellness officials successful the South American state person truthful acold blocked.
At contented is Paraguayan law, which bans abortions but successful cases wherever the gestation endangers the mother's life. The Paraguayan Ministry of Health says there's nary denotation that the wellness of the miss -- present 22 weeks' large -- is astatine risk.
But the girl's household is asking for an abortion, and Amnesty International is backing them, saying her property should trigger the wellness exception. The radical besides asserts the instrumentality is excessively restrictive, noting that it doesn't supply further exceptions for rape.
"The carnal and intelligence interaction of forcing this young miss to proceed with an unwanted gestation is tantamount to torture," Amnesty International authoritative Guadalupe Marengo said this week. "The Paraguayan authorities cannot beryllium idly by portion this young rape subsister is forced to endure much agony and torment."
Doctors learned the miss was large aft she entered a infirmary successful the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion, connected April 21 for abdominal pain. That spurred a transgression investigation.
Authorities allege that she was raped by her stepfather, and that the gestation stems from that crime, according to the authoritative successful complaint of the case, Monalisa Munoz.
A warrant has been issued for the stepfather, who is astatine large, Munoz told Paraguayan TV web Telefuturo.
The girl's parent has been arrested successful transportation with the case, Munoz said. She faces charges including breaching her work of care, Amnesty International said.
Amnesty said the girl's parent asked connected Tuesday that her girl beryllium allowed to person an abortion. But Paraguayan Health Minister Antonio Barrios said the gestation would continue.
"There is nary denotation that the wellness of the (girl) is astatine hazard ... truthful we are not, from immoderate constituent of view, successful favour of the termination of the pregnancy," Barrios said Thursday.
Barrios said the girl, who has been transferred from a children's infirmary to Asuncion's Red Cross Hospital, volition beryllium taken to a structure wherever the authorities volition oversee her prenatal care.
"The Justice Department volition find aboriginal who volition person custody of the parent and kid aft (the birth)," Barrios said.
Amnesty International argues the girl's property unsocial should marque her eligible for Paraguay's termination exception, saying gestation poses wellness risks to young girls whose bodies aren't afloat developed.
A 2013 United Nations report said that 2 cardinal girls nether property 14 springiness commencement successful processing countries each year, galore of whom endure resulting semipermanent oregon fatal wellness problems. It estimated that 70,000 adolescents dice each twelvemonth from complications from gestation oregon childbirth.
Journalist Sanie López Garelli and CNN's Marilia Brocchetto, Dakota Flournoy and Theresa Waldrop contributed to this report.
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