Brazilian demonstrators hold an anti-abortion march in Brasilia
Following abortion carried out against father's wishes, child and mother remain hidden and "under guard"
Brazilian pro-life leader Fr. Luiz Carlos Lodi da Cruz is calling for a criminal investigation into the now-famous abortion of two unborn children conceived by a nine-year-old girl in Recife, Brazil.
In an open letter, Lodi observes that all abortions are criminal in Brazil, even when they are exempt from a criminal penalty, as they are in cases of rape. However, the abortion was carried out despite the fact that the father had withdrawn permission for the procedure, calling into question the exemption of the doctors from criminal penalties.
"For the authors of the crime to enjoy the non-application of the [criminal] penalty, it is not sufficient for the pregnancy to be the result of a rape," writes Lodi, President of the Anapolis Pro-Life Association, in an open letter. "In this case, as the mother is incapable [of giving consent], it is necessary to have the consent of both parents, who legally represent her."
As LifeSiteNews has reported, accounts from the scene indicate that the father was on his way to the public hospital where his daughter was interned to withdraw permission for the procedure, when an international pro-abortion organization engineered the transfer of the child and her mother to another facility. The abortion was carried out shortly thereafter.
Lodi observes that "the consent of the mother was probably obtained through fraud, which applies to medical conduct mentioned in article 126 … of the penal code, that is, imprisonment from three to ten years."
Lodi writes that the abortion was carried out in an "agile and coordinated move by feminist groups" who were under pressure to ensure that the girl's twins were never born. If they had been, Lodi writes, the girl would have become "an icon of the pro-life cause" after having been used to promote abortion in the Brazilian media.
In addition to the criminal nature of the abortion itself, Lodi points out that the girl and her mother "were placed in an unknown and inaccessible 'shelter,' where they remain today, under guard (or imprisoned), impeded from communicating with the Tutelary Council [child protective services] of Alagoinha (unanimously against abortion) and with the father himself, Mr. Erivaldo."
The case of the Recife abortion made international headlines last March when Archbishop Jose Cardoso Sobrinho of Recife announced the excommunication of the doctors who had carried it out. The Brazilian and international public, which had been given the false impression that the girl's life was in danger, protested vigorously.
Although Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Prefect of the Vatican's Congregation of Bishops, sent Archbishop Cardoso a letter of support, other bishops distanced themselves from the excommunication. Archbishop "Rino" Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for Life, attacked the excommunication in the Vatican's newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, and some Brazilian bishops questioned the act's legality. Pro-life leaders have repeatedly expressed support for Archbishop Cardoso.
Contact: Matthew Cullinan Hoffman,
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: May 16, 2009
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