Chilean President Sebastián Piñera added fuel to the abortion debate that has grappled his country following the rape and pregnancy of an 11-year-old girl. Piñera, a conservative supporter of Chile's abortion ban, praised the girl as "brave and mature" after she told reporters she would keep her baby, theBBC reported.

According to the BBC, the girl appeared in a TV interview to talk about her unborn child. "I'm going to love the baby very much, even though it comes from that man who hurt me," the girl, who was identified as Belén, said. "It will be like having a doll in my arms."

Piñera praised the girl for her decision to keep the baby. "She surprised us all with words showing depth and maturity when she said that, despite the pain caused by the man who raped her, she wanted to have and take care of her baby," the president said. However, Piñera's comments caused discontent among Chileans.

Giorgio Agostini, a forensic psychologist, told the Associated Press that the girl is hardly mature enough to have the mental or emotional capacity to understand what she's going through. "What the president is saying doesn't get close to the psychological truth of an 11-year-old girl," he said.

"It's a subjective view that is not based on any scientific reasoning," Agostini added.

The girl's mother's partner allegedly raped her for over two years. On Friday, the man, who was arrested by police in Puerto Montt, confessed to the rape. Chile's TVN 24Horas reported that the girl's mother, who has a child with the rapist, has only testified one and is against her boyfriend's arrest.

The young girl's rape and subsequent pregnancy has sparked a national debate on abortion. Chileans have flocked social media to demand the legalization of abortion in cases of rape or health risks for the mother, Latinos Post previously reported.

Abortions for medical reasons were allowed in the country until they were made illegal by the General Augusto Pinochet dictatorship in 1973. According to the BBC, Chile is one of seven countries in Latin America where abortion is totally banned.