05 March,2009 11:49 AM IST | | Agencies
A nine-year-old girl who was carrying twins, allegedly after being raped by her stepfather, underwent an abortion yesterday despite complaints from Brazil's Roman Catholic church.
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Abortion is illegal in Brazil, but judges can make exceptions if the mother's life is in danger or the foetus has no chance of survival.
Fatima Maia, director of the public university hospital where the abortion was performed yesterday, said the 15-week-old pregnancy posed a serious risk to the girl.
"She is very small. Her uterus doesn't have the ability to hold one, let alone two children," Maia told the Jornal do Brasil newspaper.
But Marcio Miranda, a lawyer for the Archdiocese of Olinda and Recife in Brazil, said the girl should have carried the twins to term and had a cesarean section.
"It's the law of God: Do not kill. We consider this murder," Miranda told the local media. Brazil has more Catholics than any other nation.
Meanwhile, the police said the stepfather has been jailed since last week.
