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NOS News•today, 07:22
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A man has been arrested in the US state of Ohio for allegedly raping a 10-year-old girl. The case received national attention in the US because the victim, who became pregnant as a result of the rape, was no longer able to have an abortion in her own state due to stricter laws that had just been introduced.
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The 27-year-old suspect was arrested in Ohio after the victim identified him as the perpetrator. As a Guatemalan, the man would reside in the country illegally. His relationship to the girl is unknown. Prosecutors say he confessed to raping the girl at least twice.
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The girl’s mother reported the pregnancy to authorities on June 22. Two days later the US Supreme Court struck down the nationwide right to abortion and Ohio introduced stricter legislation. As a result, abortion after the sixth week was banned in the state, not excluding rape or incest.
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The girl was three days late. As a result, her doctor had to organize a trip to neighboring Indiana to terminate the pregnancy.
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‘Already traumatized’
President Biden raised the issue in response to the disappearance of the constitutional right to abortion. “Imagine you’re that girl,” he said with restrained anger. “Ten years old, raped, six weeks pregnant. Already traumatized.”
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President Biden on the 10-year-old girl:
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‘Imagine being that 10-year-old girl, raped and six weeks pregnant’
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On the contrary, some opponents of abortion have questioned the story, because no details had been released and no one had been arrested. Ohio Republican prosecutor Dave Yost even called it “probably a fabrication” and Congressman Jim Jordan of the same party called it “another lie” on Twitter.
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After the arrest, Yost said he was “deeply saddened” by the girl’s suffering. He was silent about her abortion. Jordan deleted his tweet.
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Police are currently investigating whether the fetus’s DNA matches that of the suspect. If found guilty, the man could face life in prison.
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