Buenos Aires, Argentina, Feb 9, 2009 / 12:47 pm
The Argentinean media reported on Friday that a mentally handicapped woman who became pregnant through rape underwent an abortion at the Regional Hospital of Santiago del Estero.
The director of the Maternity Ward, Martin Costas, confirmed the abortion took place and said the fetus was turned over to investigators to determine who was responsible for the rape.
This was the first instance in which the courts in Santiago del Estero authorized an abortion to be performed. Pro-abortion groups in Argentina celebrated the news and said it was an “important precedent.”
The case generated much controversy throughout the country, with one lawyer even offering to adopt the baby to keep the abortion from taking place. A 22 year-old woman whose mentally ill mother also conceived her through rape wrote a moving letter pleading for the life of the unborn child. However, the courts sided with the pregnant woman’s parents and authorized the abortion.