Esperanza, a teenage girl with acute leukemia living in the Dominican Republic, will die if she doesn't start chemotherapy treatments as soon as possible. But she's nine weeks pregnant, and her country banned abortion even in cases where the mother's life is in danger back in 2010.


According to a group Fox News calls the Feminist Forum, the girl, her mother, her doctors, and even the Dominican Republic's health minister are in favor of starting her treatment, regardless of how it will affect the fetus. "The time wasted could mark the difference between life and death for this young woman," the group said. "What are you waiting for?"

Put simply, the country's politicians have decide whether they'll put their money where their mouths are in the most horrific sense of the cliche. Can they really give a 16-year-old in her first trimester of pregnancy a death sentence?


Even if they let Esperanza undergo chemo, the group believes that won't be enough; "Esperanza's case will be repeated time after time until the legal regulations are changed that allow this kind of situation to arise," they said.

Case of Pregnant Teen with Cancer Spurs Abortion Debate in DR [Fox]