A Brazilian judge has barred an 11-year-old girl from having an abortion after she became pregnant after being raped, causing widespread outrage.
Joana Ribeiro Zimmer is being investigated after it was revealed yesterday that she refused to help an unnamed girl who was raped in her family’s home in Santa Catarina state in southern Brazil.
The girl had been raped earlier this year and was taken to a doctor in Florianopolis by her mother when she was 22 weeks pregnant.
A doctor refused to perform the abortion, claiming that they could only do so up to 20 weeks and that a court order was required.
The case was then brought before Judge Zimmer, who reportedly told the court that if the mother truly wanted to protect her daughter, she would not’submit her to homicide.’
There are no other details about the rape or the attacker of the girl, who is now in her 29th week of pregnancy.
Abortion is illegal in Brazil and can result in jail time unless the victim is raped and the mother’s life is in danger.
The girl was seen by a doctor on May 4 at the Polydoro Ernani de So Thiago University Hospital, accompanied by her mother, according to the Intercept.
They then informed a hospital psychologist that they did not wish to continue the pregnancy.
Prosecutor Mirela Dutra Alberton of the Santa Catarina Public Ministry petitioned the court two days later to have her placed in a shelter.
Pregnancy is a high risk, according to court documents, because “obviously, a child at a young age does not have a biological structure in the formative stage suitable for a pregnancy.”
When the case reached the Santa Catarina court, Judge Zimmer decided to place the girl in a women’s shelter to protect her from her assailant.
Her mother, who has not been identified, is said to have said that if she hadn’t been taken to the shelter, she would have aborted her daughter herself.
The judge also told the mother that granting the girl an abortion would not have been “protecting her daughter,” but rather “subjecting her to homicide.”
Last week, a 12-year-old Bolivian girl’s premature baby died after the girl was denied an abortion after she was allegedly raped by her grandfather.
Abortion is legal in Bolivia for victims of rape and incest, but it can only be performed up to the 22nd week of pregnancy.
The pregnant woman pleaded to be allowed to end the shocking pregnancy, but she was told it was too late.
Because she was six months pregnant at the time, doctors at the German Urquidi Maternal and Child Hospital in Cochabamba turned down her requests.
Bolivians were shocked by the hospital’s refusal to terminate the young girl’s pregnancy, prompting many to call for changes to the country’s abortion laws.
In the 29th week of the pregnancy, the baby was delivered via C-section. Because the premature baby’s health was in jeopardy, it was placed in an incubator, but it died.
In Senda F, in the municipality of Chimore, the girl was allegedly raped by her grandfather.
The elderly farmer, it turned out, had allegedly raped his granddaughter several times before she became pregnant.
He is currently being held in San Pedro de Sacaba prison in pre-trial custody.
In local reports, neither the victim nor the alleged perpetrator’s names were given.
Judge Zimmer’s decision is currently being investigated by the Court of Justice of Santa Catarina’s Internal Affairs Office.
The case has sparked widespread outrage in the predominantly Catholic country, with local media reports claiming that there is no legal basis for the situation, either in terms of the hospital’s stance or the judge’s decision.
In a statement, the Court stated that they had “initiated a request for administrative measures for the proper investigation of the facts.”
‘Because Brazilian law only permits abortion in cases of rape, foetal anencephaly, or risk to life, the country’s Ministry of Health reported only 1,626 legal abortions in 2012 in a country with 203 million people,’ according to the IPAS organization, which campaigns for abortion rights in Brazil.
‘However, one million Brazilian women are estimated to have abortions each year. When they choose to end an unwanted pregnancy, many of these women, particularly those who lack the financial or social resources to see a well-trained, willing provider, take a huge legal risk.
‘Physically, the consequences can be devastating.’
The case is still open.