BRASILIA , Brazil ( CNN ) -- A doctor excommunicated by the Catholic Church for performing an abortion on a 9-year-old rape victim received a standing ovation during a national convention on women 's health , according to a local media report . Archbishop Don Jose Cardoso Sobrinho excommunicated the doctors who performed the child 's abortion . The response came during the opening ceremony of an event hosted by Brazilian Minister of Health Jose Gomes Temporao . The newspaper O Povo reported that Temporao called on the audience to acknowledge the `` brilliant '' work done by a medical team in the abortion , performed in Brazil 's northeastern city of Recife . The girl was pregnant with twins after being raped , allegedly by her stepfather , police were quoted in media reports as saying . The abuse had gone on since the girl was 6 , authorities said . The abortion was performed March 4 during the fourth month of pregnancy , according to media reports . Archbishop Don Jose Cardoso Sobrinho of Recife excommunicated the doctor , the child 's mother and the medical team involved in the procedure . However , the stepfather was not excommunicated , with Sobrinho telling Globo TV that , `` A graver act than ( rape ) is abortion , to eliminate an innocent life . '' The child was not excommunicated , Sobrinho said , because Catholic Church law says minors are exempt from excommunication . `` The church is benevolent when it comes to minors , '' he told Globo TV . `` As for the adults , especially those who approved it , performed this abortion , the excommunication is applicable . '' `` God 's law is above human laws , '' Sobrinho said . The case has outraged the Brazilian public and fueled a controversy reaching the highest levels of church and state in a nation whose law bans abortion except in cases of rape . Temporao recently said doctors must put law before religion . `` The question posed is very simple . There is a Brazilian law which states that a pregnancy can be interrupted in case of rape , '' Temporao said . `` It is legitimate for the church to have its dogmas , but these dogmas must not be imposed on society as a whole , '' he added . Earlier , a verbal spat ensued between President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and the archbishop over the church 's decision . `` As a Christian and a Catholic , I find it deeply lamentable that a bishop of the Catholic Church has such a conservative attitude , '' Lula said on Globo TV . `` In this case , the medical profession was more right than the church , '' he said . Meanwhile , a Vatican cleric told Italy 's La Stampa newspaper that he supports the Brazilian archbishop 's decision to excommunicate all involved in the abortion except for the child . Dr. Olimpio Moraes , one of the doctors involved in the procedure , said he thanked the archbishop for his excommunication because the controversy sheds light on Brazil 's restrictive abortion laws . He said women in Brazil 's countryside are victimized by Brazil 's ban on abortion . Some of the doctors vowed to continue attending church services , despite being expelled . `` The fact that I was excommunicated will not keep me from going to Mass , praying , conversing with God , and asking him to illuminate me and my colleagues in our medical team to help us take care of people in similar cases , '' one doctor said . TV Globo reported that the child , who is from a town outside Recife , has stayed in the city to recover and to escape media coverage . Her current condition is not known . A new report by Brazil 's IPAS , a non-governmental organization that works with the health ministry , indicates that more than 1 million women undergo illegal abortions in Brazil each year . About 250,000 are treated by doctors for traumas due to botched abortions , said Beatriz Jalli , an IPAS official . Studies at a Brazilian hospital dedicated to treating female victims of violence , the Perola Byington in Sao Paulo , indicated that more than 40 percent of the cases involved children . `` This is why the Recife case is so important for women in Brazil , '' Jalli said . Jalli said the liberated `` Girl from Ipanema '' image that many foreigners have of Brazilian women is far from reality . `` We live in a male chauvinistic , patriarchal society with a very high rate of sexual crimes against women and minors , '' she said . `` Our reproductive rights are constantly criminalized . '' CNN 's Helena de Moura contributed to this report .
Report : Doctor who performed abortion on child rape victim praised at event . Brazilian law bans abortion except in cases of rape . Catholic Church excommunicated doctor , along with child 's mother , medical team . Archbishop says child was not excommunicated .