A nine-year-old in Brazil conceived twins after alleged abuse by her stepfather. Not only is this poor little girl having to deal with trauma of such a hideous experience, but her mother and her doctor have been excommunicated (the girl has not due to her age) by Brazil’s Catholic Church after having an abortion.

While Brazil’s president criticized the Brazilian archbishop’s decision, Cardinal Re, who heads the Roman Catholic Church’s Congregation for Bishops says the archbishop had been right to excommunicate the mother and doctors.

“It is a sad case but the real problem is that the twins conceived were two innocent persons, who had the right to live and could not be eliminated,” he said. “Life must always be protected, the attack on the Brazilian Church is unjustified.” -BBC

Brazil only permits abortions in cases of rape or health risks to the mother and the girls doctors say this case met both these conditions.

Stories like this blow my mind. The girl is nine years old! Nine years old!? How can the church criticize a child for not wanting to have children? Especially when those children were created out of a violent and disgusting act? I think the church should focus its criticism and punishment on the man who raped this little girl, and not the people who are trying to help her.
takepart and learn more about international women’s sexual health issues at World Health Organization.