Mexico: 10 Year Old Girl Gives Birth
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A 10-year-old girl just gave birth in Puebla, Mexico. The girl, who is unnamed at this point, gave birth by Caesarian section after a 31 week long pregnancy. The baby was born premature and only weighed 3.3 pounds and is currently recovering from pneumonia in the intensive care unit. The young mother had a pretty rough delivery and even suffered from what doctors referred to as “life complicating issues and seizures.” The hospital doctors have stated that she has been recovering very well and the baby seems to also be in good condition given its premature birth. The mother was released from the hospital and has returned to her home in the San Francisco Totimehuacan community. However, she does return to the hospital daily to visit her baby and to breast-feed. The Puebla state Attorney General’s Office has been notified of the pregnancy and is now investigating the situation to determine whether the girl may have been raped. It seems this is common procedure as there are a lot of young pregnancies- the age consent is only 12!
To make matters worse, women are legally not allowed to have abortions unless they are able to prove they were sexually abused. Those who disobey this law are likely to face a hefty fine or even a prison sentence. This law was approved in 2009 and states, “Life begins from the moment of conception to natural death, except in cases foreseen by law.” The fact that the “cases foreseen by law” exception is added at the end should hint that maybe the lawmakers were not on the right track when making this sweeping decree. But apparently not, since half of Mexico’s states have similar abortion laws. Vida Humana Internacional, a pro-life organization that spreads catholic teachings in Mexico and other Spanish speaking areas, claims that abortion is immoral – even in cases where the pregnancy is a result of sexual abuse or poses health risk to the mother. However, Mexico City’s government believes that this is better then the alternative: the crude and unhealthy back alley abortions that Mexico is infamous for. Giving birth that young or in early teen years leads to many more health risk and complications – we know this from our own history when young mothers would frequently die during child birth. Abortion is one of the biggest hot button issues in our country, and as long as there are people, it’s going to be intensely debated.
