.- Chile’s Health Minister, Pedro Garcia, denied a request by various feminist NGOs to force a nine year-old girl to have an abortion because she became pregnant as a result of rape.
Garcia expressed his concern about the girl’s situation and called on Chileans to denounce the sexual assault of minors. However, he clarified that a human being does not deserve to have his or her life terminated when “he or she was not responsible” for the factors which led to conception.
Garcia said his ministry has developed strategies for dealing with cases of rape and that the ministry is coordinating with the Calama Hospital, where the girl is being cared for, in order to guarantee her health and the life of her baby. The girl is seven months pregnant.
