Grounds on Which Abortion Is Permitted s8

Ecuador ABORTION POLICY

Grounds on which abortion is permitted

To save the life of the woman Yes To preserve physical health Yes To preserve mental health Yes* Rape or incest Yes** Foetal impairment No Economic or social reasons No Available on request No

Additional requirements

Consent of the legal representative of the pregnant woman is required if she is an idiot or insane. The abortion must be performed by a physician with the consent of the woman or that of her husband or close family members if she is unable to consent. ______* The Penal Code does not specify whether health encompasses both physical and mental health. ** An abortion may be performed on these grounds only when the pregnant woman is an idiot or insane.

FERTILITY AND MORTALITY CONTEXT REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CONTEXT

Government view of fertility level: Too high

Government intervention concerning fertility level: To lower

Government policy on contraceptive use: Direct support provided

Percentage of currently married women using modern contraception (aged 15-49, 1994): 57

Total fertility rate (1995-2000): 3.0

Age-specific fertility rate (per 1,000 women aged 15-19, 1995-2000): 72

Government has expressed particular concern about: Morbidity and mortality resulting from induced abortion Yes Complications of childbearing and childbirth Yes

Maternal mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births; 1990): National 150 South America 200

Female life expectancy at birth (1985-1990): 70

Source: The Population Policy Data115 Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references.

132 Ecuador BACKGROUND

Sections 441-447 of the 1971 Penal Code of Ecuador prohibit abortion except in the case of a threat to the life or health of a pregnant woman, when this danger cannot be averted by other means, or when the pregnancy is the result of a rape or statutory rape of a woman who is an idiot or insane. In the latter case, the legal representative of the pregnant woman must consent. Anyone performing an abortion without the consent of the pregnant woman is subject to imprisonment for three to six years. If the abortion is performed with the woman’s consent, the person performing it is subject to imprisonment for two to five years. If the woman dies, the punishment is increased to three to six years in prison if the woman consented to the abortion and to eight to twelve years in prison if she did not. A woman who induces her own abortion or consents to its inducement is subject to one to five years in prison. If she does so to hide her dishonour, she is subject to six months to two years in prison. Medical and paramedical personnel performing an abortion are subject to harsher penalties.

Although abortion is only permitted on therapeutic and limited juridical grounds, it is widely practised in Ecuador. The few studies available examining the incidence and prevalence of abortion do not distinguish between spontaneous and induced abortion and do not employ representative samples of the population. The scanty information available, however, suggests that the actual levels of induced abortion are greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, despite this high incidence, mortality associated with abortion is slightly lower than in other countries in the region.

On 4 June 1984, Ecuador adopted a new Constitution that guarantees the protection of life from conception (article 25) and the right of parents to have the number of children that they can support and educate (article 24). The constitutional right to determine family size was first introduced in the Constitution of January 1978. The National Population Action Plan launched in 1994 re-emphasized the importance of providing universal access to health services, with particular attention to maternal and child health care and family planning. Family planning has been available in government clinics since 1968, as well as in the private sector, and in clinics of the Asociación Pro-Bienestar de la Familia Ecuatoriana (APROFE) since 1967. A number of other private organizations also provide family planning services. The most prevalent contraceptive method used by married women is female sterilization, which in 1989 accounted for 35 percent of all contraceptive use.

Source: The Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references. 133