Ecuadorian President Partially Rejects Law Regulating Access to Rape Abortion

The President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, partially vetoed a law regulating voluntary abortions for women victims of rape, reducing the period of termination of pregnancy for girls, victims of violence, up to 12 weeks.

In a letter posted on Twitter, the conservative president wrote that he “decided to comment on the bill so that it fully complies with the ruling of the Constitutional Court.”

The legislature with the opposite majority must decide whether to accept the 30-day government amendment or approve the original document on February 18.

The National Assembly states in law that women under 18 years of age living in rural areas who have been raped can have an abortion during the 18 weeks of pregnancy, while adults and residents of urban areas can have an abortion during the 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Arkas, the only period of the twelfth week of pregnancy with the right of veto, stated that “we are all equal” before the Constitution and that “the establishment of legal distinctions between citizens according to their conditions place of birth or place of birth violates fundamental principles of the Constitution”.

In April last year, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador expanded access to abortion in a rape case. Prior to this regulation, only women with disabilities or risk of death were allowed to terminate their pregnancies voluntarily.

In Ecuador, women who undergo an abortion for unacceptable reasons are sentenced to imprisonment for up to two years.

— “Painful Reality” —

Democratic Left MP Johanna Morella, who announced the bill, tweeted that the short term “will only affect the poorest and most forgotten, leaving our women they will die in hiding.”

“President @LassoGuillermo has a partial veto and does not understand the painful reality that our girls live in every day.” I mentioned Morella.

According to official data, Ecuador has the third highest rate of teenage pregnancy among girls and adolescents in Latin America, with seven children under the age of 14 giving birth every day.

The ruler, who stated that he did not agree with the law, submitted 61 comments to the document. These include conscientious objection by medical personnel and the need for abortions in cases of rape.

Former right-wing banker Lasso said in a letter: “The Constitutional Court has expressly ordered the Legislature to request an abortion in cases of rape; however, the General Assembly has in fact been I did not do it.”

For example, the Governor stated in a document submitted to the National Assembly that the law “does not provide for the obligation to conduct medical examinations of victims in order to identify violations and protect their health, nor does it provide for the collection of evidence for criminal investigation.”

One of Lasso's demands was to file a rape complaint.

The feminist group Surkuna claims that, according to prosecutors, between August 2014 and November 2021, there were about 42,000 complaints of rape.

Last week, members of the US House of Representatives asked Lasso to pass an abortion law without changing rape. Tamara Talasik Bronner, director of the Inter-American Human Rights Watch, said that the President “has the ability and responsibility to fulfill the obligations of the campaign for respect for the rule of law”.

PLD/KNK