That man is the 65-year-old partner of Lucia’s grandmother — who took custody of Lucia and her siblings in 2015, after her two older sisters were reportedly abused by their mother’s partner, the Guardian reported. Lucia attempted to commit suicide twice upon learning of her pregnancy Jan. 23. She was hospitalized and later placed in state care as a result of apparent self-inflicted lesions, the outlet said.

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The birth of Lucia’s child Tuesday was widely condemned by women’s rights activists in the country, who say Lucia and her mother repeatedly asked for her to have an abortion — a request that was delayed by nearly five weeks, according to the BBC. Debate over who the girl’s guardian was complicated the planned abortion, and several doctors refused to perform the procedure because of their personal beliefs, the outlet said.

As The Washington Post has reported, Argentine law allows abortion in instances of rape, when the mother is mentally disabled or if there is a serious risk to her health. In any other instance, a woman could be imprisoned for up to four years for undergoing the procedure.

In Lucia’s case, officials ordered a hospital director to “continue with procedures necessary to attempt to save both lives” — a mantra also used by antiabortion advocates — citing a decision made by a family judge, according to the BBC. That court has since indicated it gave no instruction to save two lives. Moreover, the Guardian reports, a doctor warned in court that Lucia faced “high obstetric risk” if her pregnancy was allowed to continue.

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A doctor who performed the procedure said she managed to save Lucia’s life after the girl had been “tortured for a month by the provincial health system.”

“For electoral reasons they [the authorities] prevented the legal interruption of the pregnancy and forced the little girl to give birth,” Cecilia Ousset told reporters, according to the Guardian. “My legs trembled when I saw her, it was like seeing my younger daughter. The little girl didn’t understand completely what was going to happen.”

Women’s rights advocates agreed with Ousset’s assertion that Juan Manzur, governor of Tucuman, used Lucia to push his political agenda. Journalist and self-described feminist activist Mariana Carbajal wrote in a tweet that Tucuman had treated Lucia “like a receptacle, like an incubator,” according to the Guardian.

Soledad Deza, of the Women for Women Association, reminded news outlets that Lucia’s abortion would have been legal, considering health risks and the fact she was sexually abused, the Guardian reports. She likened the girl’s experience to “the worst type of cruelty.”

In August, after months of debate, Argentina’s Senate rejected a bill that would have legalized abortions during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. While some Latin American countries have loosened abortion laws, the majority of countries in the region ban abortions outright or permit them only when the mother’s life is at risk, The Washington Post has reported.

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“This bill, which is a bad one, does not intend to reduce abortion,” Esteban Bullrich, a senator from the province of Buenos Aires who opposed the legislation, told The Post in August. “It doesn’t intend to reduce that tragedy. It legalizes it. It legalizes the failure.”

Those against abortions argue the government should focus its efforts on reproductive health and educational services. Citing a government study, The Post has previously reported that 60 percent of pregnancies in Argentina are unplanned.