Uruguay's right fails to overturn law decriminalizing abortion.

AutorGaudin, Andres

Uruguay's most conservative sectors and the Catholic Church tried to abolish a law that decriminalized abortion under certain conditions, but society rebuffed the efforts. The law's opponents resorted to a provision of the referendum statutes, but only 8.8% of the electorate supported them.

In 2008, when Congress voted for the first time on a bill addressing abortion, such a consultation was unnecessary because then President Tabare Vazquez--in a personal decision rejected by his party, the progressive Frente Amplio (FA)--ignored the vote of 54% of legislators and vetoed the law.

Deputies and senators approved a similar bill in October 2012, and, since President Jose Mujica, also with the FA, did not ignore the vote of the majority and signed the bill into law (NotiSur, Nov. 2, 2012), the conservative minority initiated a popular-consultation drive. For the law to be put to a plebiscite in October 2013, supporters had to collect 252,000 signatures, 25% of the electorate. When they failed to gather the required number of signatures, they resorted to a second constitutional provision, known as a prior consultation. If 25% of the electorate agreed, then a formal plebiscite would be held. The result--only 8.8% support in the June 23 consultation--left opponents far from their dream of abolishing the law.

Society's support for the law's provisions was clear, in a country where for years doctors in public hospitals have been authorized to prescribe misoprostol, a medication whose effectiveness has practically eliminated the need for surgical abortion. And, above all, in a country where everyone knows the names of the doctors popularly, and derisively, known as "the people's abortionists," where they practice, and how much they charge. Every city has a luxurious mansion known to everyone as the "palace of the little angels"--the ostentatious homes that the doctors who perform illegal abortions have built to live in, without apparent blame or shame, with their sons and daughters. The "little angels" refer to the aborted embryos.

Those doctors whom the electorate repudiated by voting in favor of the law that decriminalizes abortion are, however, the same ones who jeopardize the validity of the Ley de Interrupcion Voluntaria del Embarazo (IVE). Subjected to pressures from religious groups such as the Asociacion Uruguaya de Educacion Catolica and health care facilities such as the Hospital Evangelico and the Circulo Catolico de Obreros, these doctors...

Para continuar leyendo

Solicita tu prueba

VLEX utiliza cookies de inicio de sesión para aportarte una mejor experiencia de navegación. Si haces click en 'Aceptar' o continúas navegando por esta web consideramos que aceptas nuestra política de cookies. ACEPTAR