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<a href="http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=20&ItemID=14004" eudora="autourl">
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=20&ItemID=14004<br>
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</a><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=5>The struggle for safe abortion
in Latin America<br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2>by Jen Peirce;
<a href="http://www.rabble.ca/news_full_story.shtml?sh_itm=a0e9cdb3ec5dfaee71d0d5fa0a71e668&rXn=1&">
Rabble</a>; October 11, 2007</b> <br><br>
There is a slogan commonly heard among Latin American feminists: “The
rich women abort and the poor women die.” Among those who fall through
the cracks of the extreme wealth inequalities of Latin America, the women
who die or suffer health problems due to unsafe abortions are invisible
victims. Those who can afford clandestine or overseas abortions remain
shrouded by social taboo, while those who cannot afford such measures
often die from hemorrhaging caused by self-inflicted abortion attempts.
<br><br>
On September 28th, feminist activists across the continent marked the
International Day for the Decriminalization of Abortion in Latin America
and the Caribbean. Their goals include calling for attention to unsafe
abortion as a public health problem and for changes in access to abortion
laws. <br><br>
<br><br>
According to the
<a href="http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/publications/articles/article4.pdf">
World Health Organization</a>, 68,000 women die each year from unsafe
abortions and 3,700,000 unsafe abortions occurred in Latin America alone
in the year 2000. Despite the
<a href="http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/recommendations/recomm.htm">
recommendation</a> from the UN Committee on the Convention for the
Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) that the
criminalization of abortion constitutes a barrier to women’s right to
health, abortion access in Latin America is among the most restrictive
around the world. <br><br>
<br><br>
Apart from Cuba, Guyana and Mexico City (only this year), legal access to
abortion in Latin America is mostly restricted to cases of rape, incest,
or to save the mother's life. El Salvador and Nicaragua eliminated even
these exceptions in recent years, the result of high-profile political
alliances with the official Catholic Church. A group of women protesting
the ban at the central Cathedral in Managua, Nicaragua, on September 30
faced insults and a line of police guards. A recent
<a href="http://hrw.org/reports/2007/nicaragua1007/">Human Rights Watch
report</a> has called the impact of the ban “devastating,” causing
further deaths and also instilling a climate of fear and criminalization
on healthcare for pregnant women in general. <br><br>
<br><br>
In Venezuela, the country with the highest teen pregnancy rate in the
continent, a coalition of feminists and sexual diversity activists are
pushing for reforms to the constitution. Currently Venezuela's
constitution guarantees parents' right to choose how many children to
have, but defines the start of life at conception. <br><br>
<br><br>
Dr. Asia Villegas, a member of the monitoring committee of
<a href="http://www.cidh.org/Basicos/English/basic13.Conv%20of%20Belem%20Do%20Para.htm">
Belem do Pará Convention</a> on violence against women, argues that the
inclusion of abortion as a felony under the Criminal Code penalizes
vulnerable women. Instead, she says, sanctions should target the causes
of clandestine abortions or the precarious conditions that can lead to
long-term health consequences and death, particularly among poor women.
Although a series of constitutional reforms will be voted on by
referendum in December, proposals to decriminalize abortion are so far
not on the agenda. <br><br>
<br><br>
There are no definitive statistics on deaths due to unsafe abortions in
Venezuela, because these deaths are generally registered under other
causes. Hospital sources cited by the coalition estimate that nearly a
third of deaths among girls age 15-19 can be attributed to botched
abortions. “Unsafe abortions cause rapid hemorrhaging, and many women
have died bleeding in my hands,” says Dr. Alberto Waithe, a gynecologist
and public health specialist in the city of Mérida. <br><br>
<br><br>
Despite the major investment in basic health services by the Chávez
government and the improvement in many health indicators, the maternal
mortality ratio (96 per 100,000 live births in 2000, while the mortality
rate for women of reproductive age is 27 per 1,000) has not shifted
significantly. For Dr. Waithe, this suggests that “we are doing something
wrong and something must change doctors must open their minds.”
<br><br>
<br><br>
For Ana Belén Jarra, a member the feminist collective Pachamama, it is
the role of social movements to push the government to protect
reproductive rights and public health. “It is a historical debt owed to
women, but we must raise consciousness among communities and
politicians,” she says. Juramis Varela dressed up as a pregnant priest
for the day of action to spread the message that “a woman’s body does not
belong to the state, her partner, and much less to the church, so the
decision is hers.” <br><br>
<br><br>
Yet abortion remains a taboo issue in much of Latin America. “We must
start speaking of abortion in the first person,” declared Diluvina
Cabellos, the representative of the Venezuelan National Assembly who
received the proposals for constitutional reform. Telling the story of
her own clandestine abortion at the age of 17, she says that only by
making safe abortion a priority of public health will there be any chance
of stemming the tide of “too many deaths of our daughters.”<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
Jen Peirce is a graduate student in international development, currently
researching gender equality and social movements in Venezuela. She has
worked with community organizations promoting women's rights in
Nicaragua, El Salvador, Gambia, and Halifax.<br><br>
</i> <br><br>
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