http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/10/26/uruguay-new-abortion-law-breaks-ground-women-s-rights
Last month Uruguay passed a landmark bill that waived criminal punishment for first trimester abortions. The new law entails certain procedural requirements for abortions done within this time frame but also allows for abortions to be performed into the fourteenth week of gestation in cases of rape. In a region that has widespread archaic laws against abortions and overall women's health, this will undoubtedly lead to decreased clandestine abortions that result in over 13% of all maternal deaths in Uruguay, according to a World Health Organization report. Latin America has several countries that have absolute bans on abortions even in cases of rape, incest, and pregnancy complications which can threaten the mother's life. Uruguay's passing of the law may be the first in a long line of reform initiatives that occur in the region.
When Uruguay Presiden Jose Mujica was inaugurated in 2010, he promised to pass the bill which would waive criminally punitive measures for abortions by December 2011, but after a long year of legislative wrangling over procedural requirements, the bill did not pass until this past September. The Senate finally ratified the bill and was signed into law by Mujica in October. The law requires extensive consultations with physicians including an initial explanation of conditions that prevent the mother from carrying on the pregnancy, a three day convening of an interdisciplinary team consisting of the physician, a social worker, and medical and mental health professionals with the mother, and a mandatory five-day reflection period before the final consent can be given. In cases of rape, only a criminal report is required to conduct the abortion.
Officials argue that there is still an opportunity and possible likelihood for these provisions to end up being overly restrictive and create a barrier for many women to get the care they need. This does not negate the monumental achievement this is to women and society-at-large in Uruguay and possibly the region in years to come, it just means Uruguay's Ministry of Public Health, charged with the task of further developing regulations to the newly implemented law, will be carefully monitored. Regardless of your own position on abortions, just the fact that this incredibly private and dangerous procedure will no longer be left in the furtive hands of illicit black market "doctors" is a victory for the public health and women of Uruguay.
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