Pregnant 11-year-old Romanian rape victim may travel to UK for abortion because of our longer legal limit
Health ministers in Romania are due to decide whether a pregnant 11-year-old girl who was raped by her uncle can be brought to Britain for an abortion.
The girl is 20 weeks pregnant, which is over the legal limit for abortions in Romania, but in the UK an abortion is legal up to 24 weeks - the latest among most European countries.
But the case, which surfaced earlier this month, has bitterly divided the medical community, child rights groups and the public.
Now the Romanian Government are set to hold an emergency meeting to decide whether she must continue the pregnancy, before it become illegal even in Britain.
The girl is 20 weeks pregnant, which is over the legal limit for abortions in Romania, after being raped by her uncle - picture posed by model
The girl's 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.
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.
A Romanian living in Britain has volunteered to finance the costs. On Wednesday, the parents received passports.
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.
Constantin Stoica, a spokesman for 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.'
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.
