Steph Deschamps / July 14, 2022
A 10-year-old girl who became pregnant after being raped had to leave her home state of Ohio to have an abortion after the Supreme Court reversed its decision, a police officer was quoted by U.S. media as saying Wednesday. Her tragic story, initially reported by an Indiana gynecologist, was cited Friday by President Joe Biden to decry the high court's June 24 decision to no longer guarantee abortion rights.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, whose state immediately banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, had expressed doubts about its veracity. It looks like a fabrication, the Republican elected official said. However, Columbus police arrested a suspect on Tuesday, and when he appeared before a judge on Wednesday, an investigator confirmed the details of the drama, the Columbus Dispatch reported. The officer, Jeffrey Huhn, told the magistrate that the victim's mother notified local child protective services on June 22 of her daughter's pregnancy and that they then referred the matter to 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 being tested for DNA to confirm links with the suspect, the police officer said. According to court documents seen by AFP, Gerson Fuentes, 27, was charged with rape of a minor under 13 following an assault on May 12. He was placed in 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.