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.