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Nonetheless, the doctor who was to perform the surgery said approval from the hospital director was required. Though abortion is illegal in Peru, since 1924, the Peruvian Criminal Code (article 119) has had exceptions to its abortion restrictions, including to save the life of the pregnant woman, or to avoid serious and permanent damage to her health. Her own physician, a social worker, and a psychiatrist all concurred that she should have a termination, as anencephaly is a fatal brain defect that also poses an unnecessary risk to the mother’s physical health, and the pregnancy was having a severe impact on Llantoy’s mental health. Llantoy, a minor at the time, became profoundly depressed. I was living and working in Peru in 2001, when Karen Noelia Llantoy discovered she was pregnant with an anencephalic fetus.