Chile's president has praised an 11-year-old girl after she said in a TV interview that she wants to give birth to the baby who was conceived when she was raped by her mother's partner.
President Sebastián Pinera's remark that her decision showed "depth and maturity" caused anger on social media in a case that has ignited a heated national debate over abortion in one of Latin America's most socially conservative nations. Abortion, even for medical reasons and in the case of rape, has been illegal since General Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship.
Pinera's government has opposed any easing of the ban.
"I've asked the health minister to personally look after the [girl's] health," Pinera said. "She's 14 weeks pregnant and yesterday she surprised us all with words showing depth and maturity, when she said that despite the pain caused by the man who raped her, she wanted to have and take care of her baby."
The girl was repeatedly raped over the course of two years by her mother's partner, who has been arrested and has confessed to the abuse. Her mother shocked Chileans when she defended him, saying the relationship was consensual. The case was brought to police by the pregnant child's maternal grandmother in the remote southern city of Puerto Montt.
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