The right to abortion was granted to an 11-year-old girl who became pregnant as a result of her stepfather’s rape. However, the bishops launched a call to the government, describing the green light for abortion as “an act of injustice and a violation of an unborn child’s right to life.” It happens in Peru, a country that has one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the world. Reuters agency reported this.
violence history
Renamed Mila by local media, the little girl has been at the center of an international human rights campaign. Her story came to light in June: The girl comes from a poor family in Iquitos, in the Loreto region that opens to the Amazon rainforest. She has been systematically abused by her stepfather since she was six, and in early June she learned she was pregnant. His stepfather was arrested, but a judge found his arrest warrant unfounded and released him.
As for Mila, social workers decided to take her from her mother and send her to a family home with her younger siblings, including the newborn baby. The mother objected to this decision, claiming that she was also the victim of her husband and requested a therapeutic abortion for Mila. The request was denied by social workers. In Peru, the law allows abortion only when the woman is at risk of death, but even then, officials and ultra-conservative politicians oppose abortion.
UN intervention
Peruvian NGO Promsex moved to support Mila and her mother, asking health authorities to allow therapeutic abortion for the 11-year-old rape victim. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child also intervened in the case, condemning Peru for refusing to have Mila an abortion. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), girls under the age of 15 are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than women over the age of 20, Promsex said. But the thesis did not convince the medical commission of the Loreto regional hospital, which determined on August 3 that Mila should continue the pregnancy. Not happy, writes the UN, “medical staff insisted on arranging regular prenatal checkups” and went to the girl “sometimes accompanied by police officers to encourage her to continue the pregnancy”.
number of bishops
Powered by international clamor, Promsex received a second assessment, this time by a medical commission in Lima, and gave the green light to abortion. The surgery should be done this weekend. But the decision sparked protests from Peruvian Catholic bishops: “We raise our voices against this injustice and violation of an unborn child’s right to life,” writes a press release from the Peruvian Bishops’ Conference. “What the Church constantly teaches in these situations is to always uphold the right to life of both mother and child,” the bishops said. death”. Finally, Mila’s request to be “treated adequately, assisted in the healing of the rape’s wounds and not having an abortion”.
According to Susana Chávez of Promsex, the case demonstrates the Peruvian state’s inability to protect young victims of sexual abuse. More than 1,600 babies were born to girls aged 10-14 last year, according to official data. In the first half of this year, 14,500 sexual assaults were recorded, 70% of which involved children under the age of 17. Around this time, a Loreto court ruled that the perpetrator of Mila’s rape should serve a 9-month preventive sentence.
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Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
