ECUADOR
Divided We Stand
Some Ecuadorian lawmakers criticized the national assembly on Wednesday for rejecting a reform bill that would decriminalize abortion in cases of rape.
“The debate over abortion for rape was not in vain. Today society knows that in Ecuador, raped women are criminalized,” lawmaker Wilma Andrade said, according to the Guardian.
The comments follow clashes between pro-choice activists and police outside the country’s national assembly after the proposed bill – which also permitted abortion in cases of incest and fetal malformation – fell five votes short of the 70 it needed to pass.
Activists argued that the decision amounts to a death sentence for those women forced to seek an illegal abortion: These resulted in 15.6 percent of all maternal deaths in 2014, according to the latest figures available.
Lawmakers have been debating reforming the draconian law for years, but the recent rejection underscored lingering divisions on the issue in the staunchly Catholic country.
The current law only allows for abortions in cases where the mother’s life is in danger, or if the pregnancy is the result of the rape of a mentally disabled woman.
Women who have the procedure face up to two years in prison.
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