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The news of 10-year-old rape victim who was forced to travel interstate for an abortion has prompted widespread outrage.
The child was denied healthcare only days after the US Supreme Court's decision to set aside Roe v Wade thanks to the state of Ohio introducing a 'trigger ban' on a woman's right to an abortion following the ruling.
The little girl was six weeks and three days pregnant, as per Cincinnati.com, and travelled across state lines to Indiana for an abortion.
The grim tale has sparked significant backlash online, with the US being compared to Margaret Atwood's Gilead from her dystopian novel-cum-TV-series The Handmaid's Tale.
A 10-year-old girl is raped. The State forces her to remain pregnant and tells her to consider it an “opportunity.”
— Gavi Begtrup (@GaviBegtrup) July 1, 2022
This isn’t Iran. This isn’t Gilead. This isn’t hypothetical.
This happened today in Ohio.
A 10 year old victim of abuse denied an abortion in OH because she was 3 days past 6 weeks pregnant. This is insane. She’s 10 years old! https://t.co/Ck8yBW2yDK
— Josh Stein (@JoshStein_) July 2, 2022
One Twitter user wrote: "A 10-year-old girl is raped. The State forces her to remain pregnant and tells her to consider it an 'opportunity'. This isn’t Iran. This isn’t Gilead. This isn’t hypothetical. This happened today in Ohio."
A second said: "How the hell is it acceptable to force a 10 year old rape survivor to carry the rapist's offspring and deprive the family the choice to spare her body and mind the trauma?!"
They added: "She's 10. Abortion is a human right."
A third person pointed out how dangerous it would be for the child to carry on with the pregnancy: "Giving birth at 10 is more likely to kill you than not. This is not only cruel, it is a veritable death sentence."
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein described laws banning the girl from being able to receive an abortion as 'insane'.
"A 10 year old victim of abuse denied an abortion in OH because she was 3 days past 6 weeks pregnant," he wrote on Twitter.
"This is insane. She’s 10 years old."
Giving birth at 10 is more likely to kill you than not. This is not only cruel it is a veritable death sentence.https://t.co/ypVGCT7cgT
— Sarah Wampler (@GeekerGrl) July 2, 2022
Victimize the victim. Victimize her parents. How the hell is it acceptable to force a 10 year old rape survivor to carry the rapist's offspring and deprive the family the choice to spare her body and mind the traumas?! She's 10!! Abortion is a human right! https://t.co/lCG3cXwbeY
— Mama Kin (@LittleMamaKin) July 2, 2022
According to Time, a number of US states are now setting themselves up as 'safe havens' for women in need of abortions but have been stripped of that right in their home state.
States on the west coast, the north east, Colorado, Illinois and the capital city of Washington DC have laws that protect abortion rights.
These safe-havens are the next target for some US anti-abortion groups.
According to the Washington Post, some groups are now calling for new laws that would stop people who live in states with abortion bans from seeking healthcare in another US state where they would legally be allowed to get one.
If these anti-abortion groups succeed, it could mean that the 10-year-old rape victim would have risked legal punishment for journeying from Ohio to Indiana to abort her rapist's baby.
Additionally, Some people in the US are said to be stocking up on the morning-after pill after the controversial ruling that overturned Roe v Wade.
Featured Image Credit: Science Photo Library / Alamy Stock Photo. ZUMA Press Inc / Alamy Stock Photo.
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