10-year-old's desperate plea to court to allow her an abortion
A 10-year-old girl in India only discovered the devastating news she was pregnant when she was taken to the hospital for stomach pain.
As the Sydney Morning Herald reports, the girl’s parents allege she was raped repeatedly by her uncle and fell pregnant. She is reportedly six months into the pregnancy.
Last week came the heartbreaking news that an Indian district court ruled the 10-year-old was too young and too far into her pregnancy to have an abortion.
In the country, abortions are not permitted beyond 20 weeks under the 1971 Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, although extreme allowances are made.
But now, India’s Supreme Court has requested that doctors to examine the young girl again to ascertain the risk involved, the BBC reports.
Doctors at Chandigarh's Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research will determine how much danger the girl’s life will be in if she has an abortion, compared to if she carries the baby to term.
Earlier in the week, a member of a panel of doctors told CBS news: "Abortion is not an option at this stage. The only way to terminate the pregnancy is to deliver the baby.”
The news comes amidst public outcry in India about the government’s poor response to rape and violence against women.
This article first published on Marie Claire.
