Salvo said the abortion, performed Thursday night at an unidentified clinic, was illegal given that the girl's life was not in danger.

"The child's physical condition was stable, at least until the day (Tuesday) that her parents took her out of our hospital," Salvo was quoted by Nicaraguan news media as saying.

Nicaraguan Interior Secretary Arturo Harding said Saturday that his department would investigate the circumstances of the abortion, and didn't rule out investigating the clinic that performed it.

"We're ready for whatever actions these obscurantists introduce," responded Juana Jimenez, legal adviser for the Organization of Women Against Violence.

Meanwhile, Jorge Solorzano, auxiliary bishop for the Roman Catholic Church's Managua diocese, said Saturday that the church "will punish this deliberate abortion with excommunication, not only for the mother and the doctor, but for all of those who helped commit this crime against human life."

It was not clear whether the girl's parents or any of the doctors is Catholic. A majority of Nicaraguans are nominally Catholic.

The church had tried to persuade the family to have the girl carry the baby to term, offering to keep her and the baby at a local orphanage.

Abortion is prohibited in Nicaragua except in cases of sexual abuse, when the mother's life is in danger, and when the fetus has severe deformities. All must be confirmed by three separate specialists.

The girl's parents have said she was raped in Costa Rica, and authorities there have taken a suspect into custody. The family returned to Nicaragua after the rape and insisted that their daughter be allowed to have an abortion.

But a government medical board refused to give a clear answer to whether the girl was allowed to have an abortion under Nicaraguan law. The board ruled Tuesday that the girl faced the same risks whether she had an abortion or carried her baby to term.

With the help of the private Organization of Women Against Violence, the family took the girl to a clinic where the abortion was performed on Thursday night, the organization announced Friday. The girl was 16 weeks into her pregnancy.

The group did not identify the clinic or the doctors, apparently out of concern that charges could be filed against them.