(CNN) -- A Romanian government committee has decided to allow a pregnant 11-year-old who was raped by her teenage uncle to have an abortion, a government spokesman said Friday.The girl is 21 weeks pregnant -- too far along to have an abortion in Romania, where the limit is 14 weeks unless the pregnancy poses problems for the mother's health, said the spokesman, who asked not to be named.
The girl's parents had said they would take their daughter to Britain for an abortion if the committee did not allow her to have one in Romania. Abortions are legal in Britain up to 24 weeks.
It was unclear whether the parents would still take the girl to Britain following the committee's decision, reached late Thursday.
Church groups have opposed an abortion for the girl, the government spokesman said. The Romanian Orthodox Church has urged the girl to keep the baby, and has said it will take care of the baby if the family wants to give it up for adoption, he said.
The uncle who raped the girl has since disappeared, the Romanian Health Ministry said. Media reports say the uncle is age 19.
This is a sad and tough story.
This is just horrifying to me. I'm 26 weeks pregnant with my first. I had definite movement starting at 17 weeks. Most women do by 20 weeks.
It's horrible that she got pregnant in such a way. I truly feel for her, but she must have felt the signs of life, the little nudges and pushes.
Before that starts happening, it's conceivable to me how someone could have an abortion. I think it's a terrible thing at any point in pregnancy, but until that point, it's hard to think of it as a person in there. Once the baby starts moving, though, it's proof undeniable of a living human being. It's extremely rare, but babies can even be born this early and live.
I wonder how heavily her parents have pushed for this. How much of this is something she wants, and how much of it is at her parents' urging? A late abortion at 11, after being raped by a family member. This whole story makes me want to cry--both for her and the child she's carrying.
This story is terrible. I'm highly certain that the parents are largely pushing for this abortion. My question is: why did they wait so long? The problems in this family obviously run much deeper than the abortion question, though. How sad.