UN Experts Say Paraguay Failed 10-Y-O Girl Impregnated by Stepfather by Denying Her Late-Term Abortion
United Nations experts said Monday that a controversial decision by Paraguayan authorities to not perform an abortion on a 10-year-old girl who's now six months pregnant after being repeatedly raped by her stepfather has placed the unidentified child in grave danger, but local officials contend that allowing the abortion could claim her life as well.
"The Paraguayan authorities' decision results in grave violations of the rights to life, to health, and to physical and mental integrity of the girl as well as her right to education, jeopardizing her economic and social opportunities," four U.N. Special Procedures' experts of the Human Rights Council warned Monday.
"Despite requests made by the girl's mother and medical experts to terminate this pregnancy which puts the girl's life at risk, the State failed to take measures to protect the health as well as the physical and mental integrity and even the life of the 10-year-old girl," they continued. "No proper interdisciplinary and independent expert assessment with the aim to insure the girl's best interests was done before overturning life-saving treatments, including abortion."
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Lida Sosa, director of healthcare programs at Paraguay's Ministry of Public health and Wellness said, however, that there is no indication right now that the young girl's pregnancy is life-threatening.
"Right now, there is no reason to interrupt the pregnancy," Sosa told The Guardian.
"In fact, given the stage of the pregnancy, it's even more dangerous for the girl to undergo a procedure [to abort] without a well-considered medical, obstetrical evaluation," she added.
The decision rendered by Paraguayan authorities has sparked an outcry from Amnesty International and abortion activists. The unidentified 10-year-old is one of three children who shared a rented room in the city of Luque with her mother and stepfather, according to reports.
The girl's mother, who's a cafeteria worker, reported in January 2014 that her husband was sexual abusing her daughter, but authorities allegedly offered no help.
Last month, the girl's mother took her to the hospital thinking that she had a tumor after her stomach started to ache and swell. When doctors revealed that the girl was six month pregnant, her mother requested an abortion but the procedure is prohibited in Paraguay unless the pregnancy is life-threatening.
The girl is now in a shelter and her mother was imprisoned on April 27 on a charge of failing in her duty of care. Further charges are being considered and the stepfather, who was on the run, has since been arrested.
