Women’s groups and women’s rights activists in the predominantly Catholic Latin American region continue to be at the forefront of debates on women’s sexual and reproductive rights. Cuba, Guyana, and Mexico City have declared abortion legal. Will Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Nicaragua, and Uruguay follow suit?

In a predominantly Catholic region, women’s groups and women’s rights activists in Latin America continue its struggle to bring sexual and reproductive rights to the fore. At present, abortion is only legal in Cuba, Guyana, and just recently, in Mexico City.

Argentina

Last May 28, International Day of Action for Women’s Health, an alliance of organisations and activists presented the Argentinian Congress with a draft law seeking to legalise abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy and women to be given access to free safe abortion in the public health care services.

“This is the first time that parliament has been presented with a draft law drawn up by civil society to demand the decriminalisation of abortion up to the 12th  week of pregnancy,” said Martha Rosenberg   with the Forum for Reproductive Rights, in an interview with the Inter Press Service.

In the proposed law, rape victims, women found to be carrying a severely malformed fetus, or women whose life or health is endangered would also be granted the right to abortion after the first trimester—requiring only the patient’s written consent and not judicial authorisation, which is presently asked from women who seek abortion in the country.

Bolivia

As Bolivia is now in the process of rewriting its constitution, a proposal by the country’s constituent assembly’s Committee on Rights, Duties, and Guarantees to enshrine the right to life from conception in the new constitution has triggered debate on the right of women, particularly rape victims, to stop an unwanted pregnancy.

Although therapeutic abortion in the country is legal in cases of rape, women usually face a lengthy, complex administrative and legal process to achieve judicial authorisation and then find a service provider willing to carry out the abortion in safe conditions. Hence, in many cases, women end up resorting to clandestine abortions, which are often practiced in unsanitary conditions.

Lawyer Samuel Zenteno told Inter Press Service that, “The lack of codification of the law creates a legal vacuum, giving rise to interpretations that vary from judge to judge. Under these circumstances, a woman who is raped is doubly victimised, because besides the sexual abuse she has suffered, she has to face distressing administrative and legal procedures.”

At present, maternal mortality rate in the country is 420 per 100,000 live births, and complications arising from clandestine abortions are the third cause of maternal death. About 115 clandestine abortions are performed each day in the country.

Brazil

In an effort to decrease unwanted pregnancies and illegal abortions, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva  announced a new program in May 2007 that would offer birth control pills at significantly reduced prices at both government-run pharmacies and private drug stores.  

With the programme now in place, women’s groups are hoping that this could lead to future changes in Brazil’s abortion laws. An estimated 800,000 illegal abortions occur in the country each year, with about 4,000 women dying from the procedure.

Nicaragua

Women’s and civil rights groups, in a protest on June 12, demanded that therapeutic abortion be made legal in the country. Demonstrators gathered outside the Supreme Court of Justice, demanding a verdict on an appeal lodged against the abolition of abortion in April 2007.

Therapeutic abortion was declared illegal in Nicaragua on October 26, 2006, including in cases of rape or even when the pregnancy may threaten a woman’s life.

Uruguay

An Internet campaign to legalise abortion was launched in the country after a 20-year-old woman was criminally charged for terminating a pregnancy. Since June 1, 2007, the campaign at <www.despenalizar.blogspot.com> has reached 3,500 signatories, including writers, musicians, and two government ministers.

In Uruguay, women are only allowed to have legal abortion if they were raped, when their lives are endangered, or if they suffer severe economic hardship. A bill to lift the constraints was introduced in Congress, but Uruguay President Tabare Vazquez said that he will not support any such measure. The Senate also defeated a similar bill in 2004 after it was approved by the lower house.

As seen in the past, unsafe, illegal, clandestine abortion has long been a silent fact of women's lives and serves as a reflection of the power that the Catholic Church and the State exercise over women's bodies. But now more than ever, women's groups and civil society organisations are working hard to create a difference towards the promotion of women's rights, particularly their sexual and reproductive rights.

Related article:
“Abortion reaches new high in Mexico City and new low in the US” in we! May 2007, No. 1

Source:
“ARGENTINA: Abortion - No Longer a Taboo Subject” from Inter Press Service, posted on May 28, 2007, <http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37922>.
“BOLIVIA: Safe Abortion Nearly Impossible Even in Cases of Rape” from Inter Press Service, posted on June 8, 2007, <http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38105>.
“Brazil Will Provide Morning-After Pill to Poor” from Feminist Majority Foundation, posted on July 3, 2007, <http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=10399>.
“Latin American news round-up” from Ipas, posted on June 14, 2007, <http://www.ipas.org/english/press_room/2007/releases/06142007.asp>.
“Nicas Demand Approval of Abortion Again” from Prensa Latina (Latin American News Agency), posted on June 12, 2007, <http://www.plenglish.com/Article.asp?ID=%7B4745A26F-034F-45CB-AEA6-40CE5A560855%7D&language=EN>.
“Uruguayans start online drive to legalize abortion” from Reuters AlertNet, posted on June 11, 2007, <http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N11429054.htm>.