Netherlands Threatens to
Withhold Aid to
Nicaragua Over Abortion
Ban
The Dutch minister of
development has warned
the government of
Nicaragua that his
country may withdraw
development assistance
unless Nicaragua changes
its abortion laws, the
Catholic Family and
Human Rights Institute
(C-Fam) reports.
The Dutch official, Bert
Koenders, said that the
Nicaraguan ban on
abortion is "completely
unacceptable," reports
Samantha Singson in C-Fam's
Friday Fax. Enders went
on: "I do not want to
immediately cancel our
aid to Nicaragua, but we
will certainly weigh the
matter.”
Last October the
national parliament of
Nicaragua unanimously
modified its penal code
to ban all abortions.
Prior to the vote a
coalition of UN
officials and country
representatives,
including UN Children's
Fund (UNICEF) and the UN
Population Fund (UNFPA)
tried to stop the
parliament from changing
the law.
Since the legislation
passed, the Nicaraguan
government has been the
subject of increasing
pressure from
pro-abortion forces
around the world. Last
January the UN Committee
for the Elimination of
Discrimination Against
Women told Nicaragua to
review "laws relating to
abortion with a view to
removing punitive
provisions." Human
Rights Watch mounted a
legal challenge to the
Nicaragua's abortion
laws claiming that
Nicaragua’s ban on
abortion is contrary to
international documents.
The nation's high court
is expected to deliver a
decision in the case in
the coming months.
Nicaragua has repeatedly
spoken out at the UN in
defense of its pro-life
constitution and laws.
At both the Cairo and
Beijing conference, as
well as at other UN
meetings such as the
Disabilities Convention
negotiations, the
Nicaraguan delegation
defended the right to
life from the moment of
conception and stated
that abortion or the
termination of pregnancy
cannot in any way be
considered a method of
regulating fertility or
birth control. Nicaragua
has also stated that
“The domestic laws
governing [abortion] are
within the sovereign
purview of the
Nicaraguan nation.”
This is not the first
time that Nicaraguan aid
has been threatened
because of the
government’s
conservative position
regarding life and
family. In 2000,
Scandinavian
representatives
threatened to withdraw
much needed financial
assistance from
hurricane-ravaged
Nicaragua. Several
Scandinavian ambassadors
chastised Nicaraguan
representative Max
Padilla for representing
the conservative views
of his government which
included resisting any
attempts to: expand
access to abortion,
redefine the family to
include homosexual
couples, and redefine
gender to mean a "social
construct" instead of a
biological distinction.
Padilla’s refusal to
change the definition of
gender resulted in his
dismissal.
|
|
