Why do these papers instantly jump to abortion as the "solution"?
A nine-year old girl is found to be 5 months pregnant
A nine-year-old Peruvian girl has fallen pregnant by her alleged rapist stepfather after reportedly being subjected to sexual assault up to ten times a day, The Daily Mail and The Sun report on a story published in Ojo, a Peruvian newspaper.
The abuse was not discovered until the girl's mother, Lina Violeta Julca Rios, noticed that her daughter was developing a large bump on her stomach and took her daughter for an ultrasound, which revealed her to be five months pregnant. The reports immediately go on to say "the young girl's pregnancy was not discovered until she was five months gone… too late for her to have an abortion [in Peru]."
The family ask for help, not abortion
The stepfather, 30-year old Elmer Sergio Chambergo Tapia, has since fled the family home in Ventanilla. Ojo reports that "the young girl’s family requested that the full weight of the law should fall against the escapee and also that [the family] be furnished with legal and psychological support, because they have a low income."
The daughter and her family are not reported as having considered an abortion; indeed, Ojo’s report of the incident makes no mention of the procedure at all. Noticeably the British newspapers chose to highlight the unavailability of abortion in the opening sentences of their articles.
Justice for the victim
Both The Sun and The Daily Mail also report that "Peru's Minister for Women Ana Maria Choquehuanca has said guidelines are in place to give the abusers of minors maximum sentences."
In the aftermath of a crime as heinous as the abuse of a minor, it is commendable that attention is focused on bringing the criminal to justice. Dr Anthony McCarthy of SPUC commented: "This dreadful case of abuse, like many such cases, was only discovered very late in pregnancy. Abusers themselves often take their victims for one or more abortions to cover up their despicable crime. Thankfully, this did not happen here, and the little girl has been spared another violent assault on her body and the loss of her own innocent child."
The abortion which was to be "in my best interest" only saved their reputations and solved their problems
Dr. McCarthy continues: "Testimonies of those raped by family members recorded by the Elliot Institute show just how painful and harmful abortion can be for the victim of incest who is simply expected to submit to abortions wanted by others, whatever her own feelings for her baby. We should listen to Edith, a 12-year-old victim of incest impregnated by her stepfather, who wrote twenty-five years after her abortion:
"Throughout the years I have been depressed, suicidal, furious, outraged, lonely, and have felt a sense of loss... The abortion which was to be "in my best interest" just has not been. As far as I can tell, it only ‘saved their reputations’, ‘solved their problems’, and ‘allowed their lives to go merrily on.’ ... My daughter, how I miss her so. I miss her regardless of the reason for her conception.""
News in brief: