A religious NGO from Santa Fe recruited a girl to prevent her from having an abortion: “The village priest would have asked for intervention”

An abused 12-year-old girl was intercepted by the religious NGO Gravida, who detained her for 24 hours to prevent her from having an abortion. For this very reason, the State took an “exceptional measure” and recovered the minor.

PROFILE He spoke about it with the Minister of Equality, Gender and Diversity of Santa Fe, Florencia Marinaro. “We have been working with this situation regarding both Gender and Health and from the Secretariat for Children. And well, the intervention was cut short on the last business day before the medical appointment.”, explained the official regarding the case.

In this sense, Marinaro narrated that he became aware of what happened when They have no way of communicating with the mother of the minor or with the girl and “people from the organization began to speak”.

According to the information provided by the official, the members of Grávida approached the lady’s personal home after “apparently being notified of the situation by the town priest, who asked them to intervene”. Thus, the religious organization intercepted both of them and they were taken to the City of Santa Fe, so the girl lost her turn to have an abortion, scheduled for January 2.

Given this, The State made the decision to implement an “exceptional measure” that consists of taking away the personal care of the minor from the mother momentarily; consequently, the girl remained under the protection of the State.

Although he did not provide details about the current state of the minor to preserve his privacy, Marinaro assured that the containment process was resumed to rework “autonomy and informed consent with both the girl and the mother”action that is carried out inter-ministerially.

The Grávida statement and the response of the Santa Fe government

Once the news began to be made public, Gravida issued a statement in which she defended herself against the allegations against her. “Our intervention responded to a very specific situation. The mother of a minor, a pregnant girl, a 24-week gestation and a relevant clinical pathology. In the face of a complex clinical pathology, isn’t specialized interconsultation a person’s right? That was what was brought about”, they assured.

Given this, The Minister of Gender of Santa Fe recalled that “the right to privacy of a 12-year-old girl in a vulnerable situation is what must be respected” and added that “it is a basic and fundamental right for the right to health.”

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The provincial official emphasized that “the duty and responsibility of the State is to guarantee the listening and voice of a girl in a situation of vulnerability.” “The provincial State accompanies, intervenes, but does not encourage. Respect the decision of a girl and her mother”, he clarified.

Regarding the intervention process, Marinaro said that “there were no delays”, that is to say that the interviews were carried out immediately, as well as the provincial teams provided “permanent” support to the family.

The first actions against Gravida

After being able to rescue the girl, the government of Santa Fe will take the case to Justice, so that it “decides on the actions of this organization”.

For the Santa Fe Gender Minister, this “shows that organizations with religious beliefs put that before the right of the people”, so everything will be made available to Justice.

MoC/CCM