Paraguay Abortion Law

In a recent CNN.com article, a 10 year old girl has been allegedly raped by her stepfather, and in the process, has become pregnant. The obvious issue here is that the 10 year was raped, because I think in most cultures prepubescence is taboo for sexual intercourse. However, what is less obvious is that the pregnancy she was forced into via the rape cannot be terminated. Paraguay has banned all abortions unless it threatens the mother's life. But I'd argue for a special amendment to this law where if both young girls and women alike are raped, there should be provisions for abortion if the rape ends up in the creation of a pregnancy. I strongly feel any woman whom is raped, regardless of age, shall not be burdened with the progeny of the animal who raped her. Furthermore, I would argue that this law is driven by myopic religious beliefs that are driven by the Catholic Church that dominates this country. Less troubling than the physical implications here that could forever affect the girl's health under the government's hardline stance in upholding this law is the psychological impact this girl will have to endure, especially if she's forced to take care of the child. The child can barely understand what has happened to her, let alone the pregnancy that's been forced upon her and made to continue through the third trimester. I think this is a travesty of justice driven by subscribing to medieval rules that built many of the western religions we know today, even in the face of science! This girl should be the exception and the law should be amended to allow for woman whom find themselves in these circumstances to choose to terminate a pregnancy, if it is created out of rape. I won't begin a dialogue on other circumstances outside of health and rape here though to keep the scope within my ethical viewpoint. In conclusion, special exception should be granted to cases like these in regards to rape that leads to pregnancy, even if they are incongruent with the current society's religious and/or sociological expectations.

Reference:
Hanna, J., Romo, R. (2015, May 10). Paraguay man arrested in rape of girl, 10, who became pregnant. Retrieved May 10, 2015 from www.cnn.com/2015/05/10/americas/paraguay-girl-rape-pregnancy/index.html