RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The 10-year-old girl who became pregnant after being raped in São Mateus, Espírito Santo, underwent a procedure and ended her pregnancy on Monday, August 17th, at a hospital in Pernambuco. She had been hospitalized since Sunday, August 16th, when she began the process. According to the hospital’s management, the girl is well.
In a note, the Pernambuco Health Secretariat stated that the procedure was performed with judicial authorization from Espírito Santo. The unit that attended the girl is well known for this type of procedure and victim assistance. The text also points out that “all legal parameters are being strictly observed.”
The procedure on the 10-year-old girl was completed at around 11 AM.
The pregnancy was discovered on August 7th, when the girl visited the hospital in the city of São Mateus, complaining of abominal pain. The girl reported that she had been raped by her uncle since she was six years old and that she had not reported it because she was being threatened. He is 33 years old and has been indicted for rape of a vulnerable person and threat, but he was still at large at the time of publication of this story.
The São Mateus Child and Youth Prosecutor’s Office (MP) decided to investigate whether groups tried to pressure the girl’s grandmother into not authorizing the abortion. The MP will also examine audio recordings of people who were pressuring the child’s family not to terminate the pregnancy.
Protest outside the hospital
Religion-linked demonstrators protested on Sunday, August 16th, outside the health center. The rally, organized by an anti-abortion group, began after a publication by the right-wing extremist Sara Giromini on social media, disclosing the child’s name and the hospital where she was admitted. The disclosure of this information is a clear violation of the Statute of the Child and Adolescent.
The members of the protest tried to prevent the hospital’s director from entering the healthcare facility. There was unrest, with a group trying to break into the premises. The State Police were deployed and isolated the healthcare center.
There was also a rally in support of the procedure and defending the child’s right with the presence of women.
On Sunday, August 16th, the Espírito Santo Court ruled that Google Brasil, Facebook and Twitter must delete the child’s personal information within 24 hours. The ruling came after a request from the Public Defender’s Office of the State of Espírito Santo.
On Sunday, the right-wing extremist Sara Giromini published a video on social media in which she disclosed the girl’s name. The disclosed data caused even more discomfort to the girl and her relatives, according to the Defender’s Office.
If the companies fail to comply, a daily fine of R$50,000 will be imposed.
YouTube, which belongs to Google, said it “doesn’t comment on specific cases” and the platform’s guidelines “include measures to protect the emotional or physical well-being of minors.”
Twitter reported that it has rules that determine the behaviors and content allowed on its platform and that the violation of such rules is subject to appropriate measures. The company also stated that it is cooperating with the Brazilian authorities.
The G1 contacted Facebook and Sara Giromini, but received no feedback until the last update of this report.
Pregnancy caused ‘deep suffering’
The decision to terminate the pregnancy was handed down by Judge Antônio Moreira Fernandes, from the Children and Youth Court of Espírito Santo, in response to a request from the Prosecutor’s Office in the state.
One of the professionals who assisted the child reports in the court decision that “she pressed a teddy bear against her chest and just by raising the subject of pregnancy she went into deep suffering, screamed, cried and denied at every moment, only reiterating not to want it.”
The child was admitted to Cassiano Antonio Moraes University Hospital (HUCAM), in Vitória, but the Program for Assistance to Victims of Sexual Violence (PAVIVI) medical team refused to perform the procedure on Saturday, August 15th. As a result, she traveled to Pernambuco.
On Monday, at a press conference, the HUCAM supervisor, Rita Checon, said that the hospital staff’s decision was “strictly technical,” because the hospital’s program for this type of cases follows a Ministry of Health protocol for abortion up to 22 weeks and 500 grams. In this case, the fetus was 22 weeks and four days old and weighed 537 grams.
Consequently, the hospital had no technical capacity to perform the required procedure, according to the superintendent. The State Health Secretariat then sought a hospital that would attend a protocol for this type of case.
“Abortion is considered [following the Ministry of Health Technical Note for humanized abortion, which is adopted by the PAVIVIS] if the pregnancy is limited to 20 to 22 weeks and if the fetal weight is up to 500g. This child was above this cut-off point provided by the Ministry of Health. The child was not at imminent risk of life on arrival at the hospital, despite having gestational diabetes, the child’s health was under control,” the HUCAM supervisor said.
In the ruling authorizing the termination of pregnancy, the judge relied on the Technical Standard of Humanized Abortion Care, published in 2005 by the Ministry of Health.
According to the magistrate, the rule “ensures that even more advanced pregnancies can be terminated, from a legal perspective, stating that abortion above 20-22 weeks is legitimate and legal in cases of pregnancy resulting from rape, risk of life to the woman and fetal anencephaly”.
Prosecutor Fagner Cristian Andrade Rodrigues argued the abortion as a right of the minor, also so that she may recover from the psychological damage caused by the rape.
The federal Justice Inspector, STJ Judge Humberto Martins, on Sunday lodged a request for measures to the Espírito Santo Court of Justice (TJES) to provide details on the measures adopted by the local judiciary on the case.
Source: G1