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In August 2021, the family of 11-year-old girl A.A. discovered that she was 20 weeks pregnant. The child had been abused for years by his stepfather's father and hid the abuse for fear of retaliation.
About a year later, in September 2022, social workers discovered that another girl, also 11 years old, was three months pregnant. She had been raped by an uncle and already had a son less than a year old, the result of abuse committed by a cousin.
Both expressed their desire to terminate the pregnancy. Only one had the right to do so.
A.A.'s story became the subject of a lawsuit that reached the Plurinational Constitutional Court of Bolivia. The court ruled that religious organizations cannot interfere in a patient's decision about legal abortion and that the State has a duty to protect children and adolescents who are victims of sexual violence.
It all started when A.A. was taken to a public hospital and stated that she wanted an abortion. In Bolivia, the procedure has been allowed in cases of rape since 2014, and minors do not need authorization from their guardians.
According to the Public Defender's Office, hospital employees allowed religious groups to enter the unit to pressure A.A. and his mother. The girl said she was informed that she would need to buy a jar to store the fetus; the mother received a call stating that she would be arrested. The child then revoked consent.
Defenders filed a lawsuit stating that the change of position had been based on false information and threats. The court of first instance determined that the abortion should be performed, which happened in November 2021. The case reached the constitutional court, which understood that the withdrawal could not be considered an autonomous expression of will.
The court highlighted that a patient can change her mind about a medical procedure, but this decision must be free and informed. Fear provoked by false information, pressure or inducement can compromise consent.
The ruling established limits for the actions of religious organizations: individuals and entities can profess their beliefs and offer support, but not use this position to influence a patient within a health service. Religious convictions cannot replace medical information or lead a person to a certain result.
The State, the court concluded, had an obligation to prevent this type of interference and ensure that A.A. received information appropriate to his age and maturity.
The sentence was celebrated by activists for reproductive rights and should influence the health care of other women and girls, says the policy coordinator at Ipas Bolivia, Martín Vidaurre. The lawyer says that the sentence, although dated March 2026, was only released in August.
The second girl is a Brazilian, from Piauí, whose trajectory was revealed by Folha. She was already in a shelter for vulnerable teenagers after being forced to maintain her first pregnancy as a result of rape. In the second pregnancy, religious groups pressured the family and a public defender was appointed to act in favor of the fetus. The girl revoked her consent, carried the pregnancy to term and gave the baby up for adoption.
Other cases came to light in Brazil, such as that of the girl from Espírito Santo, in 2020. She managed to terminate the pregnancy because her grandmother maintained her decision despite external pressure. In Brazil, unlike Bolivia, authorization from those responsible is required.
The resolution by Conanda (National Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents), which intended to establish guidelines for the care of children and adolescents who need a legal abortion —including in situations of disagreement between family members—, was revoked by the Senate in June.
Two girls, two similar stories, two outcomes. The two cases expose, in opposite ways, the weight of institutions in the distance between a recognized right and the concrete possibility of exercising it.
A woman to meet
Myriam Bregman (1972)
It's worth getting to know the Argentine Trotskyist deputy Myriam Bregman, who I wrote about last week. Bregman has appeared in opinion polls as a highly rated politician.
From a personal point of view, I was surprised to see non-Trotskyist Argentine friends very excited about her possible candidacy for president of the neighboring country, as an alternative to oppose Javier Milei on the left of Peronism and Kirchnerism. This is because the Brazilian equivalent to Bregman's party, the PTS, would be the MRT (Revolutionary Workers' Movement), which does not have institutional political representation, such as parliamentarians.
Despite the obvious difficulty of reaching the highest position in a country by declaring that it will not form alliances with the powers that be, it is nonetheless striking that a "zurda" deputy (the pejorative nickname given to the left and adopted by Bregman) has achieved some "mainstream" support.
