Eleven-Year-Old Reopens Abortion Debate in Chile

Right now, a debate rages in Chile.* Abortion is illegal there, but we have learned recently of an 11-year-old girl who is pregnant from years of abuse in the hands of her mother's boyfriend. She wants to keep the child. Pro-choice activists are using her case to fight for abortion rights.

Of course, unless it's in self-defense, I'm not all for killing the "terrorists" either.

So, would the pro-choice people force her to have an abortion? Arguably, she is not old enough to make a choice. She wasn't old enough to have her virginity stolen from her (or to consent). But she has other options. She could give the child up in an open adoption so that she could watch the child grow up without being financially responsible for him or her. It's also possible that a family member could adopt the baby so she could help raise the child without having the main responsibility for him or her. Those are just two of her options.

But the bottom line here is that it's not the child's fault that his or her father committed such a barbarous act. I hope the rapist gets punished to the fullest extent of the law. I hope the girl gets protected from further acts of violence and her mother's stupidity. Her mother is defending the rapist for crying out loud. But the unborn child doesn't deserve the death penalty.

I do not know any of her medical specifics so I know nothing about her physical ability to give birth to the child. I'd have to trust the doctors caring for her. My understanding is that Chile has some of the best maternity care in this hemisphere, unlike the US...

That rant is coming soon.

*For those who want to hear about it from a secular source, here is the CNN article.