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Asia

Indian girl, 10, who was raped pleads for right to abortion

By Fox News
Published | Updated
INDIA-ITALY/

A 10-year-old rape victim is pleading her case for an abortion at India's Supreme Court. (Reuters.)

A 10-year-old girl who says she was raped and impregnated by her uncle is trying to win permission from India's Supreme Court to abort the child, with the girl's parents claiming her body isn't developed enough to carry the baby.

India's Supreme Court agreed to allow doctors to examine the girl, who is 26 weeks pregnant, the BBC reported. Indian law forbids women to have an abortion when they are more than 20 weeks pregnant unless doctors say the mother's life is in jeopardy.

Doctors at Chandigarh's Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research will examine the girl on Wednesday. They are set to assess which carries the greater risk: carrying the baby to term or having an abortion.

ABORTION ACTIVISTS FEEL THE PRESSURE AMID STATE AND FEDERAL MOVES TO DEFUND CLINICS

The girl claimed her uncle raped her several times in the last seven months. Her parents only recently found out their daughter was pregnant when the girl complained about stomach pains, the BBC reported. The uncle, who was not identified, has been arrested.

A district court turned down the parents' petition to allow their daughter to have an abortion last week even though doctors who already examined the girl have declared her pelvic bones are not fully developed enough to safely carry a child.

The family's lawyer said the baby and mother were at "very serious risk," regardless if she has a natural birth or a cesarean-section.

INDIAN GIRL, 10, GRANTED ABORTION AFTER RAPE

In May, a panel of doctors allowed another 10-year-old girl to have an abortion. She claimed her stepfather had raped her.

India's tough abortion law has been in place since 1971. It was first passed to prevent illegal and unsafe abortions -- when expecting mothers would abort their child after undergoing fetal gender testing.