Police have arrested a rape suspect in the case of a 13-year-old Mississippi girl who delivered a baby after she was unable to travel out of state to terminate her pregnancy, reported TIME Magazine on Thursday.
"Ashley's mother, Regina, told TIME in a text message Sept. 5 that police informed her a suspect had been arrested in the case," reported Charlotte Alter, noting that the names Ashley and Regina are pseudonyms to protect the survivor's anonymity. "The Clarksdale police department sent TIME a press release stating that a 16-year-old male had been arrested and charged with rape on Sept. 5, and a spokesperson subsequently confirmed that the arrest was tied to Ashley's case." Police reportedly used DNA evidence to make the identification.
The story of this pregnancy blew up in recent weeks, after it was revealed Ashley gave birth to the infant, identified as Peanut.
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Mississippi was the state that originally filed the case that led to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. Some Republican officials, including the Mississippi Speaker of the House, have openly said they want teenage sexual abuse victims to give birth rather than have abortions.
Most states with strict abortion bans do make exceptions for rape and incest; however, these exceptions are difficult to receive in practice, and often require a police report to be filed, even in cases where the age of the victim would make it rape by definition.
This is not the first post-Roe case. Last year, a 10-year-old girl was forced to travel from Ohio to Indiana to receive an abortion due to the restrictions in her own state. Ohio voters are set to decide on a referendum this fall that would codify abortion rights in the state constitution.
