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NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY
CAMPAIGN ACTION GROUP The following national trade unions are currently affiliated: BFAWU, BECTU, CWU, FBU, NUT, PCS, RMT, UNISON, UNITE (AMICUS), UNITE (T & G), USDAW |
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Nicaragua's Abortion Ban NSCAG's Statement on Nicaragua’s ban on abortion when the life or health of a woman is threatened (therapeutic abortion) follows the background information. If you would like to comment please do so by email >> Background For 130 years Nicaraguan law allowed a woman to have an abortion when her life or health was in danger from the pregnancy. In October 2006, one month before the elections that brought the Frente Sandinista (FSLN) back into power, the National Assembly banned such abortions under pressure from the Catholic and Evangelical Churches. This ban on therapeutic abortion was retained in a September 2007 vote on the penal code. According to the legislation anyone who performs a therapeutic abortion - i.e. an abortion where the life or health of the woman is threatened - would face one to three years in prison and any woman who requests an abortion one to two years. Chile, El Salvador and the Vatican are the only other states in the world where therapeutic abortions are a criminal offence. In Nicaragua all major medical associations, women’s and human rights groups have opposed the ban and called for it to be repealed. As documented by Human Rights Watch (2 October 2007) there are cases where women have died because doctors were afraid to terminate their pregnancies. The legislation has also created fear and misunderstanding; some women are frightened to get treatment for any complication (such as severe bleeding) during pregnancy or postnatally, in case they are accused of having induced an abortion or having tried to. As a result of intense pressure nationally and internationally the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health has issued guidelines covering obstetric emergencies where abortion is permitted when a women’s life is at risk, for example with an ectopic pregnancy (a pregnancy developing outside the womb). However, because of the climate of fear created by this legislation and the wide-spread belief that abortion is not allowed even if the woman’s life is at risk, women’s right to life and health will remain under threat until this legislation is repealed. Further information: www.hrw.org/americas www.movimientoautonomodemujeres.org www.cawn.org ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group’s (NSCAG) statement The NSCAG is totally opposed to this ban because it infringes the human rights of women to life and health. NSCAG, in collaboration with NSC, have been working with Nicaragua since 1978. Together, we work in solidarity with community-based and trade union organisations working for social and economic justice. We are not affiliated to the FSLN nor do we have any legal ties or a direct relationship with it. However, we do work with the trade union movement through the FNT (National Workers Front) who are allied to the FSLN. We appreciate the dilemma that this creates for many of our members including for ourselves as the NSCAG Executive Committee. However, we feel that the penalisation of abortion when the life or health of a woman is threatened is a deeply retrograde step as far as creating social justice is concerned. What action has NSCAG taken? In addition to raising our concerns through writing letters and articles we have taken the following actions: * In the lead up to the November 2006 elections we circulated an urgent action to members and supporters calling for letters of protest to be sent to all political parties and the National Assembly urging a vote against the proposed legislation. * In November 2007 we urged our members and supporters to sign up to a Nicaragua Network letter to the President of the National Assembly, the Minister of Health and the President of the Supreme Court calling on them to repeal the law. We will continue working closely with Nicaraguan and other international organisations who are campaigning and lobbying to ensure that this profoundly unjust legislation is repealed as soon as possible. Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group Executive Committee 15 March 2008 |
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