11 year old pregnant from rape wants child, sparking abortion debate

This is not the child

An 11-year old girl with intellectual and learning

disabilities who was raped and became pregnant

has indicated that she wants to keep the child.

The unnamed Uruguayan girl is currently 16 weeks

pregnant and, according to doctors and sources

close to her family, she dreams of raising the

baby with her attacker.

The girl was allegedly raped by the 41-year-old

grandfather of her half-sister, who was visiting

the family in its Montevideo home. He has been

detained and will be prosecuted for rape,

Uruguayan officials told Agence France-Presse.

In Uruguay, abortion is legal up to 12 weeks of

gestation and 14 weeks in the case of rape, but

medical reports indicate that the girl does not

have the capacity to understand the consequences

of pregnancy and motherhood.

"Although the legal deadline for abortion has been

exceeded, if we determine that the pregnancy

endangers her health, judicial authorization could

be granted," Marisa Lindner, director of

Uruguay's Child and Adolescent Institute (INAU),

told a press conference.

The hospital has said the girl is in good health and

under medical supervision, and Monica Silva,

director of INAU's health division, told La Diaria

newspaper that "there is no risk of life for the

girl or baby, so we cannot make her have an

abortion."

The Uruguayan case comes soon after a similar

incident in neighboring Paraguay, in which a 10-

year-old was raped and impregnated by her

stepfather. Paraguay’s health minister blocked

the girl from getting an abortion because the

country’s constitution forbids the procedure unless

the mother's life is in danger.