Ecuadorian President Partially Rejects Law Regulating Access to Rape Abortion

Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso partially rejected the law governing voluntary abortions for rape victims, reducing the termination of pregnancy for abused girls to 12 weeks.

In a letter posted on Twitter, the conservative president wrote that he “decided to comment on the bill in order to fully implement the decision of the Constitutional Court.”

The legislature that receives a majority of votes “no” must decide whether to pass the 30-day government amendment or approve the original document on February 18.

The National Assembly provides by law that women under 18 years of age living in rural areas who have been raped may have an abortion during the 18 weeks of pregnancy and that adults and people living in urban areas can have an abortion within 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Arkasa, the only veto period during the 12 weeks of pregnancy, states in the Constitution that “we are all equal” and that “the determination of legal distinctions according to the conditions of place of birth or place of birth birth of a citizen is the basis of the Constitution.

In April last year, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador increased access to abortion in cases of rape. Prior to this decision, only women with disabilities or women at risk of death could voluntarily terminate their pregnancies.

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

— “Painful Reality” —

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

Speaking of Morell, he said: “President @LassoGuillermo has a partial veto and does not understand the painful reality that our girls live in every day.”

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

The ruler, who stated that he did not agree with the law, submitted 61 comments on the document, which referred to the conscientious objection of medical personnel to military service on grounds of conscience and necessity abortion in case of rape.

“The Constitutional Court has expressly ordered the legislature to require an abortion in case of rape, but Congress has not actually done so,” former right-wing banker Lasso said in a letter.

For example, in a document submitted to the National Assembly, the ruler stated that the law “does not impose obligations on medical examinations of victims in order to identify violations and protect them health, and does not collect evidence for criminal investigation.”

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

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

Last week, members of the US House of Representatives asked the arcana to pass an abortion law without changing rape. According to this rule, Tamara Talasik Bronner, Director of Human Rights Watch in the Americas, said that the president “has the ability and responsibility to fulfill the obligations of the campaign respect for the rule of law”.

PLD/KNK