An 11-year-old girl in Brazil who was raped and did not want to give birth after becoming pregnant received a legal abortion seven weeks after appealing to the courts, sparking anger over poor abortion rights legislation in the country.
She was 10 when she was raped but had turned 11 when she found out she was pregnant, reports The Independent.
The case also called into question the judge hearing the case, who told the girl to “hold on a little more”.
The judge is now being investigated for stopping the girl from accessing abortion and terminating the unwanted pregnancy, said officials from Brazil’s judicial watchdog agency National Council of Justice on 23 June.
The girl had appealed to the court in May when her pregnancy had reached 22 weeks and doctors refused to abort the foetus, citing the duration of the pregnancy, said her lawyer Daniela Felix.
After the seventh month the Polydoro Ernani de Sao Thiago Hospital finally acted on “measures to interrupt the minor’s pregnancy” after a formal request was made by the girl’s family, said federal prosecutors.
The child, who had refused to give birth but faced pressure from authorities, received the abortion on 22 June.
Provoking a further wave of public backlash was the judge’s methods and her remarks while hearing the case in which she refuted the child’s request for abortion.
In a hearing on 9 May, Judge Joana Ribeiro Zimmer asked the girl whether she understood how pregnancies happen. Zimmer also suggested the girl “hold on a little more” to save the foetus.
Zimmer had also backed doctors who had refused to carry out the abortion and denied the girl’s request.
The judge also reportedly isolated the girl from her family and ordered for her to be put in a state shelter. According to local police and prosecutors, the girl’s relatives are suspects in the crime.
Human rights groups and magistrates sought Zimmer’s removal as a judge after the case was widely reported.
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