Groups Rally at Brazilian Hospital to Protest Abortion for 10-Year-Old Rape Victim

Anti-abortion rights groups rallied outside a hospital in Recife, Brazil, on Sunday evening, August 16, to protest against an abortion that was to be carried out on a 10-year-old girl who became pregnant after being raped by her uncle.

According to reports, the victim had been raped repeatedly by her uncle over several years.

The protesters, including the Christian groups Movimento Pró-Vida and Porta Fidei and politicians Clarissa Tercio and Joel de Harpa, knelt and prayed in front of the hospital entrance, with some, including de Harpa, later attempting to gain entrance to the hospital.

The obstetrician Olímpio Barbosa de Moraes Filho, part of the medical team involved in the case, told the news outlet Veja that he was scared by the scene outside the hospital.

“I was surrounded by people who called me a murderer,” he said. “They called the girl a murderer too, but fortunately she heard nothing." Storyful was unable to independently verify his account.

The victim is originally from Espírito Santo, and was taken to hospital in São Mateus, where it was established that she was 22 weeks pregnant, according to Veja. She was eventually taken to Recife, where her pregnancy was terminated on Monday, August 17. Hospital authorities said the girl was recovering well, according to G1 Globo.

Abortion is heavily restricted in Brazil, and can only be carried out if there is no other way to save the life of the pregnant woman, or if the pregnancy is as a result of rape or incest. According to G1 Globo, the Health Department of Pernambuco said that the procedure in Recife was carried out with judicial authorization from Espírito Santo, the girl’s hometown, and said all legal parameters were followed in the case. Credit: Clarissa Tercio via Storyful