From the beginning Paulina has said she was raped twice that night. In testimony taken by police after the assault, she told how a man raped her at knifepoint, then walked out of the room. Shortly afterward, she said, someone came back in and she was raped again. Although it's the policy of the Union-Tribune not to name victims of sexual assaults, Paulina and the family have chosen to publicize her case and her identity. The feminist groups that originally rallied around Paulina and focused a national spotlight on her case are standing staunchly at her side.
Abortion is legal in Mexico in cases of rape.
Paulina's family sought an abortion less than a month after the rape, as soon as they discovered her pregnancy. But time and again, the abortion was delayed. First, doctors at the state's General Hospital in Mexicali refused to perform the abortion, objecting on moral grounds. Later, Baja California Attorney General Juan Manuel Salazar tried to persuade the family not to have the abortion and took them to meet with a Catholic priest. Told that Paulina's life was at risk, the family eventually decided against the abortion.