10-year-old's pregnancy fuels Mexican abortion debate
 

Mexico City, Mexico (CNN) -- A pregnant 10-year-old, allegedly raped by her stepfather, has become the latest lightning rod in the country's heated abortion debate.

The girl's stepfather has been arrested. But advocates on both sides of the issue say their battle is just beginning.

"This girl is much more than an isolated case," said Adriana Ortiz-Ortega, a researcher at Mexico's National Autonomous University who has written two books on abortion in Mexico, "and there is much more influence now from conservative groups that are trying to prevent the legalization of abortion."

Abortion is legal in Mexico's capital city, but prohibited or significantly restricted in most of the country's states. The girl's home state of Quintana Roo, on the Yucatan peninsula, allows abortion in cases of rape during the first 90 days of the pregnancy. But the 10-year-old girl is at 17½ weeks, nearly a month past that limit.

Advocacy groups are calling for federal officials and the United Nations to investigate Quintana Roo's handling of the matter, claiming officials did not inform her of her abortion rights.

"We don't know what is happening, and the institution that is supposed to provide support and care for these minors hasn't been transparent. We're really asking for accountability," said Maria Luisa Sanchez Fuentes, director of the Information Group on Reproductive Choice.

State Attorney General Francisco Alor Quezada said he did not know whether officials had told the girl she had the option of pursuing an abortion, and he did not know how far the girl was into her pregnancy when her mother reported the assault to authorities last month.

He said the girl is in the custody of state protective services, and officials are closely monitoring her physical and psychological care.

"I do not think there is another instance in which the girl could be in better hands," he said Monday.

Child protective services officials in Quintana Roo said in a statement last week that the girl and the fetus were in good health.


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:rolleyes: um..okay

Ok.

Welp, I'm pro-abortion anyway.

No ending would be a good one for this little girl. I don't see her getting a lot of psychological help in Mexico...then again, maybe I'm just biased against Mexico.

Ummmmmmmm... allowing a TEN YEAR OLD girl to continue with a pregnancy is INSANE! I don't care where people fall along the abortion debate, but this is NOT SAFE. Pregnancy is HARD on an ADULT body, but a child?! WTF?!

Ditto.

I would think that the psychological repercussions of an abortion would be worse.

Um. I'd have to say its not. I mean being upset about the abortion is better than being DEAD after attempting to deliver/delivering a baby.

10 year olds having babies in this day and age aren't as uncommon as people think it is. Sad, yet true.

I'm pro-choice as well, but is a 10 year old in the right mind to choose? I mean she didn't ask to have this child.

Imma wait for the SVU ep to see how this plays out. Looking forward to the immigration twist to make it relevant in the US.

LOL

I agree with AOII Angel. There is no good outcome for this little girl, no matter which way the pendulum swings.

I could swear I saw an interview with a 10yo from Egypt who had given birth a couple years ago so I Wiki'd it. Couldn't find her, but there's a lot more. The youngest mother was age 5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._birth_mothers

/factoftheday

:eek: to the power of nine million

I'm not even going to click on that. That really is the wrongest thing I've hear in a while. 5!? How is that even posible?

10 year olds have been having babies in underdeveloped countries for quite a while now. Some of the first tests with the Pill (back in the 1950s) were done in areas where girls were age 19 and had 8-9-10 kids.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precocious_puberty It happens to boys, too btw.

Since we're on the subject, it seems to be normal in Bulgaria, too: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/worl...r_wedding.html. Now, THAT'S a sad story.

In regard to having babies young (not talking about conset right now, but the practice in general), how did something so horrifying become so common? Or is it just horrifying to us because we've made it uncommon?

^^^sick. That story wasn't really about Bulgarians though.

I know, I was referring to the part of the article where the grandmother said it's normal for their girls (in Bulgaria) to have babies young--she just didn't want that for her granddaughter.

That's what I meant. The grandmother said their girls. They can be anywhere, they aren't real Bulgarians that they're talking about. When she said "our girls" she meant gypsie girls. These aren't Bulgarians, they're just a bunch of gypsies who happen to be in Bulgaria.

Where on earth do you see that?

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/worl...r_wedding.html

It's down at the bottom. Roma is gypsie from the word Rom which is their name for their bloodline. No one has Roma weddings but gypsies, they're in no way Bulgarian.

Page not found.

Either way "our girls" refers to some group or sub-group where having children young is normal which was my point in the first place.

Yeah, and it is for gypsies.

What about the psychological reprecussions of being a child (allegedly) raped by your stepfather and forced to have that child, in addition to the physical hardships of pregnancy and childbirth on a child body?

Those are huge, too. No one but this girl knows which would cause her more psychological pain. Honestly, different people have different breaking points and only she would know which situation would leave her worse off emotionally (and she may not even know till she's older and it's too late). She could look back on this in 10 years--even in 5 years--and be totally devastated at having been forced to have an abortion. She could be racked with feelings of guilt, regret, and helplessness for the rest of her life. Heck, that could happen even if she has one willingly. Or she could have the same feelings over carrying a baby she clearly didn't ask for. She's going to be dealing with the scars of her rape regardless of whatever else happens. That's why I say there is no possible way this can turn out okay for her. For the sake of leaving her with as little "damage" as possible, one could err on the side of caution...but with such a volatile issue, what side is that and who gets to decide?

ETA: On that note, I wonder if anyone's asked the girl what she wants to do. If she voiced a decision, would anyone go with her wish (whatever it was) or just point out that she's 10 and "doesn't understand the consequences?"

The girl doesn't know that. Adults can't predict their mental and emotional well-being so a 10 year old darn sure can't.


As far as I'm concerned, she is below the age of consent for sex and below the age of decision making capacity. Societies can't have it both ways. You can't tell children that they are children and then give them life altering decisions to make where their choices will be the end-all that can't be overridden by the adult decision makers.

The adults should do what they think is the right decision (hopefully, abortion) and get her into counseling until she's 100 years old.

That's kind of out there. It should be her decision alone, in my view, because it is her.

The 10 year old in question will make a better decision than any adult who it isn't happening ever could.

This whole situation is just sad as sad can be. This poor 10 year old shouldn't be having to go through what she is in fact going through. My heart goes out to her.

Angel's Advocate: If you've just admitted that adults couldn't predit their own emotional and mental well-being, they why should they get to override the girl's decision regarding hers? Would your feelings on that change depending on what she chose?

Because a 10 year old doesn't even have the capability of understanding the full consequences of either action. A 10 year old doesn't have the right to make medical decisions for themselves. They don't get to choose whether they get a flu shot. They don't get to choose whether they get a blood test. Their parents are their legal guardians and as such, get to decide everything about their lives, within the law.

Yeah but her one legal guardian raped her and got her pregnant, and the other one took forever to tell anyone about it.

First off, stepfathers are not usually legal guardians unless they adopt the child, in which case they are then "adoptive father" not stepfather.
Second, my point is that 10 year olds cannot and should not make decisions about their health care.
Third, according to the article, they do not know exactly when the mother alerted authorities or how far along the girl was at the time. It is entirely possible that the mom didn't know until it was too late in the pregnancy

State Attorney General Francisco Alor Quezada said he did not know whether officials had told the girl she had the option of pursuing an abortion, and he did not know how far the girl was into her pregnancy when her mother reported the assault to authorities last month.

He said the girl is in the custody of state protective services, and officials are closely monitoring her physical and psychological care.

Fourth, Because the child is in custody of state protective services, they are currently her legal guardians. Therefore, they would make the decision.

Many of the kids I worked with in adolescent psych were sexual abuse victims. It was unbelievable how many of them had mothers who would not leave the abuser. This mom did what she should.. she reported it, the stepdad was arrested.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.
 

Are you kidding me? Forcing a 10 year old to carry the product of a monster? Not only rape, statutory rape, AND incest. I fail to see why a product of incest should be born. I do not understand how someone could be against abortion even in cases of rape, incest, and threats to the mother's health, ALL 3 of which apply here.

Nevermind that I think that any "guilt" about abortions is COMPLETELY a product of socialization and not inherent.

By definition, this case doesn't seem to fit the bill for "incest." If Disgusto wasn't married to the girl's mother, they wouldn't be closely related enough to prohibit their marriage. I'm not defending him, but this whole thing is nauseating enough without adding more stigma than what the poor girl is already dealing with.

I get that they would make the decision, I just don't agree with it.

I'll be totally honest here. If my 10 year old was raped and became pregnant, I wouldn't even TELL her that she was pregnant. I'd tell her that the attacker did damage that required surgery, which isn't really a lie. Just as parents don't always tell kids that they are being tested for things like leukemia until they know results.

You know what? I, personally, don't think I would handle it that way (because no one really knows what they'd do if they were faced with this) but I totally see why you would. I hadn't even thought of that through the course of this thread and I'm not sure if a surgeon would even do it, but that seems like a pretty darn good idea. There are some downsides to that, but there are so many upsides that I know I'd consider it pretty hard.

Yes and No. She's a gypsy, not a Bulgarian.

No it's not normal for Bulgarians, but is for gypsies. Even when my grandmother lived there, it was unusual to have children before 16. And that was 100 years ago.

I look forward to the day the laws catch up with that ridiculous line of thinking.

Parents would love for their children to be able to to help pay the household bills, drive themselves everywhere, and take control of their own schooling and futures. And while they're at it, if they want to smoke, drink, and fuck--why not? They are fully aware of themselves and fully capable of making such decisions. Children are just shortass adults. Child labor laws and statutory laws are complete bullshit.

Scoff.

You know the answer to that question. If you don't, think of your interactions with children and the stupid things that they generally think are soooooo important.

No.

If that family decides she should have the child (and the state doesn't intervene) then that means the family will HOPEFULLY assist with prenatal care, raising the child, and the necessary counseling. I think that would be a dumb decision but it would hopefully be an adult-made decision.

Same here.

And I don't care whether or not it's a lie. Parents/adults lie to children for less important things.