WORLD> Europe
Romanian gov't to decide on 11-year-old girl abortion
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-25 22:21

BUCHAREST, Romania  -- Romania's health minister said Wednesday a government committee will decide this week whether an 11-year-old who was raped by her uncle can go to Britain for an abortion or must continue the pregnancy.

The case, which surfaced earlier this month, has bitterly divided the medical community, child rights groups and the public.

The girl is 20 weeks pregnant, which is over the legal limit for abortions in Romania.

Her parents say they found out she was pregnant on June 2 when they took her to a doctor because she seemed unwell. She told doctors that she had been raped by her 19-year-old uncle, who has since disappeared.

Two local committees in northeast Romania where she lives have passed contradictory rulings.

One committee said the girl should be allowed to have a legal abortion in Britain, as her parents want. A Romanian living in Britain has volunteered to finance the costs. On Wednesday, the parents received passports.

Another committee ruled that because both the mother and fetus are healthy, the girl should give birth. Abortions beyond 14 weeks are illegal unless the pregnancy threatens the mother's health.

In Britain an abortion is legal up to 24 weeks if two doctors decide that the risk to a woman's physical or mental health will be greater if she continues with the pregnancy than if she ends it.

The National Child Protection Authority said the girl should be allowed to have an abortion because she is already traumatized by the experience of rape and pregnancy.

The National Doctors Council said that the rights of the fetus should be considered and the pregnancy should go ahead. They argued that abortion laws should not be liberalized further.

The Orthodox Church, to which most Romanians belong, called the case "an exceptional situation which must be treated in an exceptional manner and the family is the only one to take this decision," church spokesman Constantin Stoica said Wednesday.

He said the church considers abortion a crime, but this belief applies to normal circumstances, and not to incest or rape.

Health Minister Eugen Nicolaescu said the case was delicate because it involved medicine, the law and morality. A government committee will publish a decision on the girl on Friday.