Abortion in Latin America
On August 19, 2019, Evelyn Hernández, a 21 -year -old Salvadoran, was finally acquitted after being accused of homicide for aggravated negligence of her son born dead dead. In July 2017, the Salvadoran had been sentenced to 30 years in prison, but the decision was revoked in February 2019 by the Supreme Court after Evelyn Hernández had spent 33 months in prison. This example illustrates the reality that many Latin American women face, since 97% of them in childbearing age in countries where abortion is prohibited.
The situation of reproductive rights is very different between the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, and goes from the total restriction to the legalization of the voluntary interruption of pregnancy. These differences can be explained by the governments present in each country, the weight and power of religious institutions, sexual violence and the economic situation of each country.
Some of the most repressive countries in the world in terms of reproductive rights are South American and Caribbean such as Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In these countries, abortion is strictly prohibited, regardless of the reasons for pregnancy. These countries have common factors such as population poverty, a high level of inequality, endemic violence and significant weight of religion in all spheres of society. Some of these countries, such as Honduras and El Salvador, retreated on the issue of abortion, moving from a law assumptions to a total prohibition in 1997 under the pressure of the Catholic Church. However, some of these countries seem willing to modify their legislation to bring it closer to that of neighboring countries. This is the case, in particular, of the Dominican Republic and its president, Danilo Medina, who, despite the strong opposition in his country, wants to decriminalize abortion. This phenomenon has also been observed in El Salvador, where Nayib Bukele, recently elected president, spoke during the presidential campaign in favor of decriminalization. But the question of reproductive rights does not seem to be a priority in the political agenda of those countries.
Other Latin American countries have a more flexible legislation on reproductive rights, with the possibility of resorting to abortion in specific cases. In general, three reasons can be invoked to justify an abortion: pregnancy is the result of rape, there are malformations in the fetus or pregnancy is a threat to the mother’s life. But these three justifications are not accepted in all Latin American countries. In fact, in Venezuela, Paraguay, Peru, Costa Rica or Guatemala, only the risk to the mother’s life can justify an abortion. In Panama, Bolivia and Ecuador, abortion is only possible if the mother’s life is in danger and pregnancy is the result of a violation. Only Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Chile accept the three conditions. However, the perspectives of evolution of these countries seem to be very different. Under the impact of evangelist pressure groups, many countries in the area are going back in certain social issues, particularly in women’s rights. The choice of Bolsonaro in Brazil or the “provida” manifestations driven by the Church in Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru and Mexico are elements that show that current dynamics is not to lose ground in reproductive rights. Although these countries have opened to these rights, the reality is that there are some difficulties for the population to accept abortion, as evidenced by the fact that 51% of the doctors of the Public Health System of Chile refuse to carry out a Violation abortion. Only Argentina seems to be achieving true progress in this issue, as demonstrated. Alberto Fernández’s choice is another step towards the legalization of abortion.
Cuba and Uruguay are the two Latin American countries that allow voluntary interruption. Cuba was one of the first countries of the world with a decriminalization of abortion in 1965. Abortion is guaranteed by the public health system and that is the explanation of the almost absence of clandestine abortion and the low maternal mortality rate in Cuba. For its part, Uruguay has chosen to decriminalize abortion in 2013 and this measure has had the same success as in Cuba.
Thus, the situation of abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean seems to be diverse and confusing. Opponents of abortion, especially the Catholic Church, are using their influence and their relations to unite the government and people to their cause, despite the encouraging results in Uruguay and Cuba. The positive effects of decriminalization in these two countries are closely linked to the public health system, which constitutes a previous requirement for other Latin American countries in case they opt for decriminalization. However, at present, the challenge seems to be not to go back to the growing and most audible pressure of the opponents than to advance.
Leave feedback