Ecuadorian President Partially Rejects Law Regulating Access to Rape Abortion

Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso partially vetoed a law regulating voluntary abortion for rape victims, reducing the termination of pregnancy for abused girls to 12 weeks.

In a letter posted on Twitter, the Conservative President wrote: “Decided to comment on the bill to ensure that it fully complies with the Constitutional Court ruling.”

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 the age of 18 living in rural areas who have been raped can have an abortion within 18 weeks of pregnancy, while adults and people in urban areas can have an abortion within 12 weeks of pregnancy.

The lasso was enacted as the sole veto period for the 12th week of pregnancy, and before the Constitution it was argued that “we are all the same” and that “it is fundamental to discriminate between citizens in law according to the conditions of their place of birth or place of origin”. principles.”

Last April, Ecuador's Constitutional Court expanded access to abortion in rape cases. Until this decision was taken, only women with disabilities or at risk of death were allowed to terminate their pregnancy voluntarily.

In Ecuador, women who stop for impermissible reasons are sentenced to up to two years in prison.

- “Painful reality” -

Johanna Morella, a member of the Democratic Left Party who announced the bill, tweeted that the short deadline “will only affect the poorest and most forgotten, causing our women to die in hiding.”

“President @LassoGuillermo exercised a partial veto but didn't understand the painful reality that our girls live every day.”

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

Rulers who disagreed with the law made 61 comments in the document, which included honest objections from health workers and the need for abortion in cases of rape.

The former right-wing banker Lasso said in a letter: “The Constitutional Court explicitly ordered the legislature to make requests for abortion in rape cases, but the Assembly actually dropped it.”

For example, the ruler stated in a document sent to the National Assembly that the law “does not provide for the obligation to conduct medical examinations of victims and to protect their health, nor does it collect evidence for criminal investigations”.

One of the demands made by Lasso was to file a rape complaint.

Feminist group Surkuna claims that, according to the prosecutor's office, there were approximately 42,000 rape complaints between August 2014 and November 2021.

Last week, if the rape case did not change, the US House of Representatives asked Lasso to enact a law on abortion. Through the rule, Tamara Tarasik Bronner, director of the American Human Rights Watch organization, said the president has the opportunity and responsibility to “live up to the promise of the Respect for the Rule of Law campaign.”

PLD/CJC