NICARAGUA:
At-Risk Pregnancy Means
Death or Prison
By José Adán Silva
MANAGUA, (IPS) -
Nearly 90 women have
died in Nicaragua as a
direct or indirect
result of the repeal,
one year ago, of the
legislation permitting
abortion in cases of
risk to the mother’s
health, according to
women’s and human rights
groups.
Ana María Pizarro, the
head of the
non-governmental
organisation (NGO) Sí
Mujer, and Latin
American coordinator of
the 28th September
Campaign for the
Decriminalisation of
Therapeutic Abortion,
told IPS that the reform
of the abortion law has
driven up the number of
fatalities reported in
this impoverished
Central American
country.
Studies by Sí Mujer
indicate that 12 young
pregnant women died from
lack of care in health
centres where personnel
were afraid of the
penalties of up to eight
years in jail and loss
of their medical licence
for doctors who carry
out or assist in
abortions, even when the
action is taken to save
the expectant mother’s
life.
"In practice what is
happening is a
government death penalty
imposed on women," said
Pizarro, a gynaecologist.
Lobbied by the hierarchy
of the Roman Catholic
Church and conservative
evangelical pastors, on
Oct. 26, 2006 the
Nicaraguan parliament
approved the draft law
to revoke article 165 of
the criminal code, which
had permitted abortion
for medical reasons
since 1893.
It applied in cases
where the mother’s life
was in danger, the
foetus was deformed or
irreversibly damaged, or
the pregnancy was the
result of rape or
incest. It required
certification by at
least three doctors, and
the authorisation of the
pregnant woman or her
family.
The law revoking article
165 was passed in the
agitated political
climate leading up to
the Nov. 5 general
elections, won by
leftwing candidate
Daniel Ortega, who
formed a controversial
alliance with the
retired archbishop of
Managua, Cardinal Miguel
Obando y Bravo, the
present coordinator of
the government’s
National Council for
Reconciliation and
Peace.
The parliamentary
decision drew cries of
outrage from some 30
local medical bodies,
Central American human
rights organisations,
foreign diplomats, the
World Health
Organisation, the
Pan-American Health
Organisation and other
United Nations agencies.
According to women’s
movements, the repeal of
the article was part of
the political strategy
of the leftwing
Sandinista National
Liberation Front (FSLN),
now in power, and the
rightwing Liberal
Constitutionalist Party
(PLC), to win Catholic
votes in the close-run
elections.
The amended law entered
into force in November
2006, and was
incorporated in
September 2007 into the
new criminal code.
Performing an abortion
with the consent of the
woman carries a prison
sentence of one to three
years. And if a doctor
or health professional
performs it, they will
be banned from
practising medicine or
their health profession
for two to five years,
the new criminal code
says.
Women who undergo
abortions, whether
self-induced or
performed with their
consent, also face
prison terms of one to
two years, says the
controversial criminal
code, which was approved
by PLC and FSLN votes,
with a majority of 66
out of a total of 91.
Patricia Orozco,
coordinator of the
Feminist Movement
fighting for the
reinstatement of
therapeutic abortions,
said that the group has
already presented 54
appeals to the Supreme
Court to declare the law
unconstitutional.
"They have not replied,
and we know that they
won’t, because the
Supreme Court serves the
interests of the Liberal
and Sandinista parties,
who make the laws in
this country," Orozco
complained.
The Supreme Court’s
press office said that
the court would rule on
the appeals against the
law in due time.
However, the women’s
groups believe that the
answer to their appeal
will be delayed as long
as possible, until it
falls into oblivion.
"But while women keep
dying, we will not
forget," said Orozco,
who stated that women
have been under dual
attack all year.
"Apart from having our
right to life
undermined, we have been
attacked in the streets
when we protest -- they
have sent the police
after us, have beaten us
and have harassed us
with legal charges of
disturbing the peace,"
she complained.
Violent police
crackdowns on women
demonstrating in favour
of the right to
therapeutic abortion
were also reported to
IPS by the Nicaraguan
Human Rights Centre (CENIDH).
"We have documented more
than five mass
aggressions against
women participating in
peaceful protests in the
streets of Managua,"
said an activist.
In early October, Angela
Heimburger, an Americas
researcher with the New
York-based Human Rights
Watch, presented a study
in Managua on the
effects of implementing
the ban on therapeutic
abortions in Nicaragua
since it was approved in
2006.
"It has had a
devastating impact on
women’s health and
women’s lives,"
Heimburger told IPS.
The report, "Over Their
Dead Bodies: Denial of
Access to Emergency
Obstetric Care and
Therapeutic Abortion in
Nicaragua", documents 11
cases, up until
September, of women who
died from causes related
to the ban on
therapeutic abortion and
the denial of medical
services in public
hospitals.
The Health Ministry
neither confirmed nor
denied these figures,
and in fact has issued
no statistics on
maternal health since
the therapeutic abortion
ban was approved.
"The government will
always cover its tracks
when it makes mistakes;
we have no faith in its
statistics," said Juana
Jimenez, a leader of the
Network of Women Against
Violence, an NGO that
has participated in the
struggle for women’s
rights.
According to the
Autonomous Women’s
Movement (MAM), between
800 and 1,000
therapeutic abortions
were performed every
year in the public
health services before
the ban was imposed.
That means that "now
there are between 800
and 1,000 women at
risk," a statement from
the organisation says.
Among other effects of
the ban, MAM indicates
that 2,500 young women
have crossed borders
into other Central
American countries where
they can undergo
abortions without
running such a high
risk.
"Poorer women go to
Costa Rica or Panama,
and the wealthier fly to
the United States," said
the group, which
announced that it would
increase its protests
and campaigns throughout
the country.
The medical situation is
being monitored closely
by the U.N.
representative in
Nicaragua, Alfredo
Missair.
"We know that the causes
of maternal mortality
are increasing,
indirectly, from
problems to do with
providing or withholding
healthcare, and that is
a fact that must be
faced," he told IPS.
"Unfortunately,
therapeutic abortion is
misrepresented as an
abortion issue, when it
is really about
interrupting a pregnancy
that could cause the
death of the mother and
the baby. It’s an issue
that the country must
make its own decision
about, but mothers
deserve an opportunity
to exercise their right
to life," Missair said.
Latin America is one of
the regions that is
closest to meeting the
Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs), but it has
an outstanding debt with
the goal of reducing
maternal mortality, said
Missair. The U.N.
estimates the maternal
mortality rate in
Nicaragua at 90 per
100,000 live births.
"In developed countries,
the maternal mortality
rate is around 25 deaths
per 100,000 live
births," he noted. |
