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Women's Reproductive Rights SEPTEMBER 2015 WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS Introduction Abortion in El Salvador Recommendations Latin America in Focus for action Page 1 Page 2 Page 5 Page 12 INTRODUCTION Maternal and reproductive health is high Maternal health Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua have on the international development agenda the highest maternal mortality (Table 1) with as critical to address in order to improve In Central America complications related rates ranging from 100-140 per 100,000 the rates of maternal mortality and mor- to pregnancy and childbirth are among live births (this compares to rates in the UK bidity in many developing countries. Ma- the leading causes of mortality and mor- of 8 per 100,000). ternal health and reproductive rights are bidity of women of reproductive age intertwined, especially women’s rights to and there are high numbers of teenage Table 1: Maternal mortality rates control their fertility and to choose when pregnancies. Unsafe abortions are a se- (2013) in Central America & Mexico to become pregnant. But reproductive rious public health problem throughout Ratio per 100,000 live births rights are very contentious in many coun- the region threatening the lives of many tries in Latin America, in particular access women, particularly the poorest and Costa Rica 38 to contracepnancies. youngest. Most of these deaths, health El Salvador 69 problems and injuries could be preven- Guatemala 140 ted through improved access to adequa- Honduras 120 In this Briefing Paper we provide an over- te health-care services, including family view of the situation in the region with a fo- planning and emergency obstetric care, Mexico 49 cus on the situation of women in El Salvador and by reforming strict abortion laws Nicaragua 100 who have been criminalised because they that restrict the intervention of the me- Panama 85 had obstetric complications in pregnancy or dical profession and women’s access to attempted to terminate their pregnancies. medical care. Source: World Health Organisation 1 Women marching to demand justice for women who are imprisoned because of strict abortion laws in El Salvador Photograph by Jorge Menjívar, ACDATEE 1 women of rights they had held for over External Pressure ABORTION IN LATIN 130 years. The reform of the law was sup- ported by 52 of the 90 members of Con- The opposition of the Catholic Church and AMERICA gress, including many representatives of the of evangelical lobby groups to abortion and Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). its decriminalisation strongly influence the In seven countries in the world abortion is This meant that the lives of women and views of policy makers in the region. For banned in all circumstances, even when the girls were put more at risk and their free- example, the views of the religious right in life of the woman is at risk, five are in La- dom to decide, curtailed. Today, Nicaraguan the United States have an impact in stren- tin America: Chile, Nicaragua, El Salvador, women and girls who become pregnant as gthening and giving legitimacy to anti-abor- Honduras, and the Dominican Republic. a result of being raped are faced with the tion discourses in Latin America. In the past choice of giving birth to an unwanted child two decades the policies of the US Republi- Over 4 million abortions are performed in or a dangerous unregulated ”back-street” can Party became increasingly anti-abortion Latin America every year of which 95 per termination of the pregnancy. and during the presidency of George W. cent are unsafe. Recent published data Bush funding was stopped for international (2008) gives the estimated annual rate of Legal abortion upon request during the NGOs supporting family planning provision abortions for the continent overall as 31 first trimester is only available in Cuba (sin- and counselling services. This had a big im- unsafe abortions per 1,000 women aged ce 1965), Mexico City (since 2007), and pact on funding for women’s organisations 15–44; in Central America and Mexico the Uruguay (since 2012). In the rest of Latin in the region that were offering support overall abortion rate was 29 per 1,000 wo- America, abortion is criminalised in most services such as family planning and contra- men. The rate of safe procedures was less circumstances but with some exceptions: ceptive advice or advocating for the decri- than two per 1,000 women which reflects when the life or health of the woman is at minalisation of abortion. the small number of legal abortions in Co- risk, in cases of rape, incest and/or foetus lombia and Mexico City as a result of chan- malformations (see Table 2). But women are ges in abortion laws 2. faced with many legal and practical hurd- Women Respond les in order to have a pregnancy terminated In most countries in Latin America abortion and these exceptions are often not availa- The Latin American feminist movement be- law is highly restrictive and there is strong ble and if they are, the bureaucracy invol- gan to push for reproductive rights in the opposition to reform, especially from reli- ved often means that by the time they are 1980s, and launched the September 28th gious and conservative sectors. For example, authorised it is too late. The consequence Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal in reaction to Mexico City’s law expanding of this restrictive legislation is high maternal Abortion at the 5th Latin American and Ca- access to abortion, 13 of Mexico’s 31 states mortality and morbidity rates due to unsafe ribbean Feminist Encuentro (meeting) held amended their own constitutions to define abortions, which disproportionately affect in Argentina in 1990. Since then, each year life as beginning at conception which then poor and young women 3. Women in the there have been mobilisations and protests criminalised termination of a pregnancy. upper classes and financially better-off wo- by women’s organisations around this date men can afford to travel to countries with in most countries of the region 5. In October 2006 the Nicaraguan Congress more lenient abortion legislation and to use outlawed therapeutic abortion, stripping private health care services. Table 2: Legality of Abortion & Exceptions in Latin America Reason Country Prohibited altogether, or no explicit legal exception to Chile, Republica Dominicana, El Salvador, Honduras, save the life of a woman Nicaragua To save the life of a woman Brazil (a), Guatemala, Mexico (a,d,g), Panama (a,d,f), Paraguay, Venezuela To preserve physical health (and to save a woman’s life)* Costa Rica, Ecuador (a) Peru, Uruguay (a) Argentina (b), Bolivia (a,c) To preserve mental health (and all of the above reasons) Colombia (a,c,d) Without restrictions Cuba (f) *Includes countries with laws that refer simply to “health” or “therapeutic” indications, which may be interpreted more broadly than physical health. Notes: Some countries also allow abortion in cases of: (a) rape, (b) rape of a mentally disabled woman, (c) incest or (d) foetal impairment. Some countries restrict abortion by requiring (e) spousal authorization or (f) parental authorization. In Mexico, (g) the legality of abortion is determined at the state level, and the legal categorization listed here reflects the status for the majority of women. Countries that allow abortion on socio-economic grounds or without restriction as to reason have gestational limits (generally the first trimester) but abortions may be permitted after the specified gestational age. Source: Guttmarcher Institute 4 2 CASE Study: Women Campaign to change the law in Chile In Chile abortion is still forbidden under President Michelle Bachelet – the former ces of Chilean women. Civil society also any circumstance. In September 1989, Executive Secretary of UN Women- in- supports a liberalisation of the law. Indeed, one of the last acts of Pinochet’s dictator- troduced a new bill in January 2015 to in recent surveys a vast majority – between ship (1973-1989) was to repeal the 1931 liberalise the law. The bill considers legali- 69 and 80per cent - are in favour of legal Health Code, which allowed therapeutic sing abortion if the woman’s life is at risk, abortion on these three grounds, which abortion. During the past 25 years of in cases of rape, and of foetal anomalies shows an increase in support since a pre- democracy Chilean women who have been incompatible with life. Although this vious survey ten years ago 6. raped, who have an unviable pregnancy, initiative is commendable, these situations or whose health or life is at risk, have been only cover approximately three per cent of On the 4th of August 2015, the Health prohibited from undergoing an abortion. the cases of abortions that are carried out Commission of the Chilean Congress There have been several attempts to chan- every year. approved the initiative of debating the ge this legislation but none has yet been law and will vote on the bill in Septem- successful. The Catholic Church and conservative ber. Passing the law will be challenging sectors are threatening to block any reform as those against it have already said they Despite the ban, recent studies estima- and have carried out a massive campaign will ask the Constitutional Tribunal to te the number of clandestine abortions against the bill. The proposal to allow review the bill on constitutional grounds. to be 60,000 to 100,000 per year in a abortion in cases of rape has been the The Tribunal has been very conservative in country of 17 million people. Women most controversial as it relies mainly on previous decisions concerning reproductive are forced to seek abortions exposing what women say. Conservatives state that rights, so the outcome is uncertain. There them to health risks and to face criminal it will open up the possibility of abuse of is still a long way to go in order to obtain prosecution.
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