By Margaret Janelle R. Hutchinson
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay – Earlier today it appeared that Uruguay’s Congress had the necessary votes to pass legislation that would allow women to seek an elective abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy – a crime in every other country in South America.
Colombia and Argentina both have laws on the books that allow abortions in cases of rape or when the mother’s life is endangered. Colombia also allows the procedure when there is proof of fetal malformation. Every other country in South America criminalizes abortion for any reason.
The law that is currently being voted on by Uruguay’s Congress is the result of much compromise. Consequently, parties on both sides of the issue are disappointed with provisions of the law and gathered Monday to protest. Once it gets through Uruguay’s lower house, the measure would go back to the Senate for approval of changes, but President José Mujica has said he will allow it to become law.
The measure would give women the right to a legal abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, and decriminalize later-term abortions when the mother’s life is at risk or when the fetus is so deformed that it wouldn’t survive after birth. In cases of rape, abortions would be legal during the first 14 weeks.
The goal is to reduce the number of illegal abortions in Uruguay, Congressman Iván Posada of the center-left Independent Party told his fellow lawmakers Tuesday. Posada wrote the measure and is expected to provide a key 50th vote against the opposition of 49 other lawmakers.
“They talk of 30,000 a year, a hypothetical number, but whatever the number is, it’s quite dramatic for a country where 47,000 children are born each year,” Posada explained earlier in an Associated Press interview.
A key compromise in the legislation is the mandatory meeting a woman must have with a panel of three professionals. A gynecologist, psychologist and social worker would explain to the woman her other options including adoption. The woman would then have to “think it over” for another five days before she would be allowed to have an abortion.
“It’s important that the woman who decides to have an abortion attend this meeting where she will be informed, where they’ll explain all the options including alternatives that she is free to choose from,” stated Posada.
Women’s rights advocates are furious with this requirement. They believe it will be used to manipulate and stall access to abortions, potentially delaying to the point where the 12 week window had passed.
According to the World Health Organization, “Death due to complications of abortion is not uncommon, and is one of the principal causes of maternal mortality” and of an estimated 300,000 hospitalizations annually.
Globally, unsafe abortion – defined by the World Health Organization as termination of a pregnancy by providers lacking the necessary skills or in an environment that does not meet minimal medical standards – claims the lives of more than 47,000 women annually. In Latin America, unsafe abortions account for 12%, or the fourth most common reason, of what would otherwise be preventable maternal deaths.
Uruguay has been clear that women from other parts of South America would not be allowed into the country for abortion procedures. Women must prove citizenship or at least one year of residency to be eligible.
For further information, please see:
CBS News – Uruguay Poised to Legalize Abortion – 25 September 2012
Fox News Latino – Uruguay Set to Legalize Abortion; Only 2nd Country in Latin America to Legalize Measure – 25 September 2012
Huffington Post – Uruguay Poised to Legalize Abortion – 25 September 2012
Montevideo Portal – Nobleza obliga – 25 September 2012
Amnesty International – Total Abortion Bans in Latin America Risk Women’s Lives – 28 September 2011
