MIAMI - A fetus in its 24th week of development has been aborted by doctors who said the life of the mother - a retarded, deaf and seizure-prone rape victim - would be threatened if the baby was carried to full term, an attorney said Friday.
In a separate - but similar - case in Orlando, Gov. Jeb Bush filed a motion Friday to pursue a guardianship for a fetus carried by a 22-year-old mentally disabled rape victim after a judge had already dismissed a guardianship petition filed by a local woman.
The abortion and tubal ligation to prevent future pregnancies were performed late Thursday at Jackson Memorial Hospital, said Lance Block, who represents the disabled woman's mother. Police took DNA samples from the fetus in an effort to identify the father, whom officials believe raped the 28-year-old woman, he said.
In the Orlando case, Bush said the mother "is in her third trimester of pregnancy, and her severe incapacitation makes it impossible for her to make or communicate decisions about her own well-being or that of her unborn child."
