Church urges 11-year-old rape victim not to abort

Bucharest: Twenty church groups on Thursday urged a government committee not to allow an 11-year-old girl raped by her uncle to travel to Britain for an abortion.

The Christian Orthodox groups are also threatening to press charges if the girl is allowed to have a termination in Romania on exceptional grounds.

Their position was in contrast with the official stand of the Romanian Orthodox Church, which said the decision should be left to the girl's family.

A government committee is to decide today whether the girl can go to Britain for an abortion.

The girl's pregnancy only became known earlier this month when her parents took her to a doctor because she appeared unwell. She told doctors she had been raped by her 19-year-old uncle, who has since disappeared.