United States: a 10-year-old girl, pregnant after a rape, left her state to have an abortion

Europe 1 with AFP 7:30 p.m., July 14, 2022

A 10-year-old girl, pregnant after a rape, had to leave her state of Ohio to have an abortion after the Supreme Court's about-face, a police officer quoted by American media confirmed on Wednesday.

Her tragic story, initially reported by an Indiana gynecologist, was cited by President Joe Biden on Friday to decry the high court's decision on June 24 to no longer guarantee the right to abortion.

Suspect arrested

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, whose state immediately banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, had questioned its veracity.

"It looks like an invention," said the elected Republican.

Columbus police, however, arrested a suspect on Tuesday and, during his appearance before a judge on Wednesday, an investigator confirmed details of the tragedy, the Columbus Dispatch daily reported.

>> READ ALSO: The European Parliament calls for abortion to be included in the fundamental rights of the EU

The agent, Jeffrey Huhn, explained to the magistrate that the victim's mother had informed the local child protection services of her daughter's pregnancy on June 22 and that the latter had then seized the police.

The girl had an abortion on June 30 in the neighboring state of Indiana, where abortions remain legal and the remains of the embryo are subject to genetic testing to confirm links with the suspect, the policeman said.

A dozen conservative states have banned abortion

According to court documents consulted by AFP, Gerson Fuentes, 27, was charged with "rape of a minor under the age of 13" following an assault on May 12.

He was taken into custody in a Franklin County jail.

Contacted by AFP, the Columbus police did not respond. 

Since the Supreme Court ruling, a dozen conservative states have banned abortions on their soil.

Most provide an exception to protect the life of the pregnant woman, but not always in cases of rape or incest.