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PREGNANT 9-YEAR-OLD RAPE VICTIM BEING USED TO PUSH ABORTION LEGALIZATION

MANAGUA, Nicaragua, February 18, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The president of the Hispanic Division of Human Life International has warned that an exceptional abortion case in Nicaragua is being exploited by feminist organizations to press for abortion legalization.

Nicaraguan public opinion is facing a controversy over a 9 year old girl diagnosed pregnant and with two sexually transmitted diseases. Supposedly the girl was raped by a 20 year old male, although her stepfather is also suspected because he refused DNA tests.

Nicaraguan feminist groups requested a "therapeutic" abortion, which the hospital doctors refused. They offered the girl medical and social support instead. The Ministry for the Family in Costa Rica also opposed to killing the unborn child.

Feminist groups were eventually able to have the girl sent back home [to Nicaragua], where they are demanding an abortion for her. Her parents are also requesting it, even though the girl is already 15 weeks pregnant. Nicaragua's special prosecutor for crimes against children has asked the government to appoint a special committee of experts to determine whether an abortion can be carried out, on the basis that the mother's life is at risk. However, doctors (including OBGYN's) , have declared that it is possible to save both the girl and the baby.

If doctors advise that the pregnancy can continue, there are offers from organizations in the U.S. and Cuba, to transport the girl to another location for an abortion, according to Violeta Delgado, executive secretary of the "Red de Mujeres Contra la Violencia" (Women's Network Against Violence). MS Delgado claims that this is a case for "therapeutic abortion". She has threatened to sue the Nicaraguan government. and take this case before the Interamerican Human Rights Court, if the right to abortion is denied. Dr. Rafael Cabrera Artola, a gynecologist and dean at the Faculty of Medicine at American University in Managua, declared that there have been cases of 10 year old girls who have been able to deliver their babies. He and other experts maintain that abortion is more traumatic than birth, especially taking into account the fact that the girl is almost four months pregnant.

Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo, the Archbishop of Managua, the capital, has asked that every effort be made to save both the girl and her baby. A decision on this case will be made shortly by the Nicaraguan government.

A Spanish pro-life website (http://hazteoir.bigstep.com/generic187.html ) has posted a Spanish language form letter and the e-mail addresses of Nicaraguan government officials to whom supporters of the lives of both the young mother and her unborn child can write and express their opposition to any abortion:

Lic. Natalia Barillas, Ministra de Familia (Minister for the Family),
Lic. Lucia Salvo, Ministra de Salud (Minister of Health),
Enrique Bolaños, President of Nicaragua,
Doña Lila T. de Bolaños, First Lady of Nicaragua,

Nicaraguan media:
Diario La Prensa,
Diario El Nuevo Diario,

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