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.
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