In May the world was aghast when it learned that an 11-year-old girl in Paraguay, who had been allegedly raped and impregnated by her stepfather, would not be allowed to have an abortion.

The troubling situation sparked a debate within and without the landlocked South American country.

As the Associated Press reported, experts weighed in on Paraguay’s refusal to offer the girl an abortion saying, "The Paraguayan authorities' decision results in grave violations of the rights to life, to health, and to the physical and mental integrity of the girl as well as her right to education, jeopardizing her economic and social opportunities."

The non-governmental human rights group Amnesty International had asked the authorities to allow an abortion in order to protect the girl from possible harm, but Health Minister Antonio Barrios said that the child was in good health and, five months into her pregnancy, was too far along for the procedure.

"We're totally against interrupting the pregnancy," Barrios said, adding that, "The girl is getting assistance permanently in a shelter and the pregnancy is progressing normally without a problem."

Last Thursday the child at the center of the debate gave birth. The baby was born by cesarean and weighed about 6.6 pounds.

As quoted in CNN, Erika Guevara, Amnesty's Americas director, remarked the fact that the girl survived the pregnancy "does not excuse the human rights violations she suffered at the hands of the Paraguayan authorities, who decided to gamble with her health, life and integrity despite overwhelming evidence that this pregnancy was extremely risky and despite the fact that she was a rape victim and a child."

When it was first discovered that the girl was pregnant, authorities arrested her mother, charging her with child neglect as well as complicity.

The girl's stepfather was charged with rape and child abuse, but has since denied the charges, demanding a DNA test to prove his innocence.