Guatemala raises controversial law criminalizing abortion

Guatemala City (AP) — On Tuesday, the Guatemalan parliament withheld a controversial law approved by government representatives and allies on March 8, increasing penalties for abortion and banning equal marriage after widespread rejection of this norm in Central American countries.

Congress gave green light to the archives of the Life Protection Act and Family Protection Act passed, as if celebrating International Women's Day with 119 votes, 15 votes against, and 26 absenteeism from a total of 160 deputies. Various organizations for the protection of human rights, both national and international, have warned that the law criminalized women and discriminated against non-heterosexual people.

The law was approved the day before the National Day for families commissioned by Congress was celebrated, and Guatemala was declared by analysts as the pro-life capital of Ibero America, considered a sign of moral and conservative radicalization of Guatemalan politicians.

President Alejandro Giammattei, who appointed Guatemala as the pro-living capital of Ibero America, rebuked him a few days later for family protection laws, saying that he violated the law and would veto if he got into his hands.

The law submitted increased the imprisonment of women who committed abortions from 3 to 10 years, except for miscarriages. This regulation also extended the punishment to doctors and those who facilitated the termination of pregnancy, performing abortion without consent and, as a result, having been sentenced to 50 years in prison for a crime in which the mother died, previously sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Guatemalan legislation precludes therapeutic abortion as being unpunishable, but the law enacted more requirements for this exception to be applied.

The law also prohibited marriage or recognition of free unions of same-sex couples.In addition, public and private educational institutions were prohibited from promoting policies or programs in childhood and adolescence, which “tend to shift their identity according to gender at birth.”