In Ohio, a 10-year-old girl got pregnant after being raped, but tough state laws forbid her from having an abortion

A 27-year-old man from Columbus, Ohio was arrested on charges of raping a 10-year-old girl. She became pregnant as a result, but because of Ohio's abortion laws, she had to travel to Indiana to get rid of the fetus. This story captured the attention of the whole country. The edition told in more detail Independent.

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According to Columbus police, Gerson Fuentes admitted to raping his victim at least twice.

On June 30, the girl had an abortion in Indianapolis (Indiana).

The Ohio Fetal Heart Act, passed hours after the Supreme Court's decision to end the constitutional right to abortion on June 24, bans abortion around the sixth week, with no exceptions for rape or incest.

Columbus detective Geoffrey Hoon said DNA from the Indianapolis clinic was being cross-checked with DNA from Fuentes and the child's siblings.

According to court records, Fuentes is on $2 million bail and remains in the Franklin County Jail. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for July 22.

The case was first reported by the Indianapolis Star. Reporters spoke to Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an ob/gyn in Indiana, who received a call from a colleague in Ohio asking for help for a 10-year-old patient three days after the Ohio law went into effect. According to Dr. Bernard, she was six weeks and three days pregnant.

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The story sparked international outrage by exaggerating the far-reaching, myriad consequences of eliminating access to abortion and rape survivor care in states where legal abortion is not available.

During the discussion At the White House before signing the decree on access to abortion, US President Joe Biden condemned the case, saying that the girl "was raped, injured, and she still had to go to another state."

Representatives of the right-wing media agitation criticized this story, questioning its veracity. They accused the media of participating in a disinformation campaign aimed at protecting the right to abortion.

On his Fox News program on July 12, Tucker Carlson stated that this was "not true." Fox News host Jesse Watters also raised doubts about the veracity of the story on prime time on July 11.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a Republican who filed a motion to overturn an injunction blocking the state's anti-abortion law minutes after the Supreme Court's decision, said on the program that there was "not the slightest hint that this situation happened." In his view, the case is "more likely" to be a "fabrication".

On July 12, the Wall Street Journal called the case "an unlikely story from a biased source that cannot be substantiated."

The editorial mentions the website PJ Media and its journalist Megan Fox, whose doubts about the veracity of the story have gone viral among right-wing social media users.

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Dr. Bernard said the girl at the center of this case is not alone.

“Unfortunately, these are the real consequences of the abortion ban,” she said. “All states have pregnant women in need of an abortion in the most extreme and most common circumstances, and everyone deserves access to comprehensive reproductive health care in the state they live in.”

In Revenna, Ohio alone, at least three men have been charged with child rape in the past few weeks.

In 2020, according to the latest data available, there were 52 abortions in Ohio for children under 15 years of age.

The names of the victims in the protocols are not disclosed, and law enforcement officers and officials cannot confirm additional details of such cases without exposing the victim.

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