“The country is divided in two”, this was acknowledge by one of Paraguay’s leading churchmen Sunday over the case of a pregnant 10-year-old girl who denied an abortion.
The unusually strong attention drawn by the argument over the girl came with the issues of child abuse and abortion, which is banned in all cases except when the mother’s life is in danger.
Msgr. Claudio Gimenez, president of the country’s Episcopal Conference said during a homily that some want to legalize abortion, “the killing of innocent who still is in a period of gestation.”
However, Sen. Esperanza Martinez, a former health minister, complained that the debate about whether the girl is physically able to bear a child overlooks her own mental and physical wellbeing.
“This girl became a uterus. She became a birth canal.” Martinez said to the officials.
Each year, in the country of 6.8 million people, about 600 girls 14 or under become pregnant. Based on the studies conducted by the U.S Centers for Disease Control, thousands of children in the United States also give birth each year.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International has asked the authorities to allow an abortion to protect the girl, or at least to create a medical panel to (–foul word(s) removed–)s her health.
However, health Minister Antonio Barros told reporters that the girl was in good health at a Red Cross hospital and that the pregnancy, at five months, was too advanced.
The girl’s fugitive stepfather, who is accused of raping the child, was arrested Saturday while denying the guilt.
Police said that the mother had been detained earlier for allegedly failing to protect her.
H/T: Inquirer.net; and photo
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