A 10-year-old rape victim was forced to give birth after she was denied an abortion by India’s Supreme Court.
The young girl delivered at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Chandigarh, after doctors operated on her through a Caesarian section. Dr. Dasari Harish reports that the 10-year-old and her child are both in stable condition.
The girl’s family previously found out she was pregnant after she began feeling stomach pains. She later told her mother that her uncle had sexually assaulted her multiple times, leading to his arrest. However, India’s Supreme Court rejected the family’s plea for an abortion, after calling on eight doctors and a medical examination of the young girl. Her parents decided instead to tell the young child that she had surgery for a kidney stone issue, and told medical professionals that they were not allowed to tell her daughter she was pregnant with her uncle’s child.
India’s Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act outlaws abortions after 20 weeks, save for explicit permission given from the court. The 10-year-old girl was already pregnant for over 25 weeks when her pregnancy was finally brought to authorities’ attention, ultimately leading to the court’s decision to deny the young girl an abortion.