National Assembly opens debate on the law that guarantees rape abortion

Amid protests for and against, the National Assembly plans, on December 9, to open the first debate on the organic bill to guarantee the right to voluntary interruption of pregnancy in the event of rape.

Pro-life and feminist groups convened for themselves for this Thursday in the vicinity of the National Assembly for sit-ins and make their position known regarding the report presented by the Parliament’s Justice Commission, which was in charge of processing the proposal of the Ombudsman’s Office regarding the guarantee of abortion in case of rape.

The Assembly begins to debate this controversial issue after the ruling of the Constitutional Court that in April 2021 determined that numeral 2 of article 150 of the Comprehensive Organic Penal Code (COIP) is unconstitutional, which criminalized abortion for rape, because it only allowed the termination of pregnancy in the case of women with mental disabilities who are victims of rape. This provision seemed discriminatory to the highest constitutional control body.

They announce sit-ins and campaigns for legislative debate on the law on abortion for rape

The plenary session is called for 09:30, but before that the organizations related to the issue will be received in general committee in plenary session, later the report will be read and then each legislator will be able to make their position known in a time of ten minutes.

The self-convened sectors hope to carry out some protest actions in favor and against the commission’s report, in which three critical issues stand out: the first related to the time in which the pregnancy may be interrupted, the requirements and conscientious objection of doctors.

The lack of definition on the part of the legislative board of the time in which the pregnancy can be interrupted in cases of rape caused controversy among legislators and activists. Some argue that abortion could be allowed up to the fifth week and others that the possibility of interrupting the pregnancy is left open. It will be in the debate where the positions are shown and then the commission will collect the observations for the first report.

The purpose of the project is to guarantee, protect and regulate the right of women, girls, adolescents and pregnant people to the legal and voluntary interruption of their pregnancy as a result of sexual violence, guaranteeing without discrimination their dignity, autonomy and the full exercise of their rights recognized in the Constitution of the Republic and in international human rights instruments.

The law governs throughout the Ecuadorian territory, it will be observed, applied and fulfilled by every Ecuadorian and foreign person who is or acts in this territory.

It will be of mandatory application by all health operators, by public and private services and establishments of the national health system, by national and local entities that make up the Comprehensive National System to Prevent and Eradicate Violence against Women and the Child and Adolescent Protection System.

Every girl, woman, adolescent and pregnant person whose pregnancy is the product of sexual violence who is in Ecuadorian territory and who requests to interrupt her pregnancy will be protected by the provisions of this law.

group provided

The Ecuadorian Society Tradition and Action Pro-Cultura Occidental, a pro-life institution, will deliver at 09:00 more than 100,000 signatures in rejection of the decriminalization of abortion in cases of rape, and they express through the spokesman José Ignacio Gómez that the point of concern is that the project provides for abortion up to the ninth month of pregnancy.

It also considers that with the bill under debate it is intended to consecrate abortion as a right, promote abortion with public funds, force doctors and institutions to perform abortions and leave rapists in impunity, since it does not ensure that they are denounced before The authorities.

The requests of this group are three:

1. That article 45 of the Constitution of the Republic be respected, which protects life from conception, legal consecration of the fifth commandment of the Law of God: “You shall not kill.”
2. That a constitutional reform be carried out that achieves that the Constitutional Court adjusts to the elementary principles of responsibility and legality, responding for its decisions and sentences before its constituents, the citizens, guaranteeing that sensitive decisions for the generality of Ecuadorians, issued by the Court –especially those that concern aspects of moral, historical and sociological conformation– can be effectively submitted to a plebiscite, while guaranteeing the responsibility of its members for the abuse of their positions and misuse of power.
3. That all necessary legal means be used to reverse the nefarious judgment 34-19-IN / 21 of the Constitutional Court, which broadly decriminalized the so-called abortion for rape, thus issuing a death sentence against countless innocents. Likewise, we request that legal mechanisms be applied to ensure legal respect for the convictions of the country’s Catholic majority on family and morals.

For this reason, this group requests the presidency of the National Assembly to return the project to the Justice Commission and be corrected based on what Ecuadorian society demands, which is the protection of the to be born from the conception, denunciation and exemplary penalties for rapists, the freedom to freely object to the practice of an abortion and the suppression of any type of abortion propaganda.

Feminist group

The organizations of the women’s and feminist movement also convened themselves starting at 09:00, in Piedrahíta and Luis Saa streets, where the National Assembly is located, and will hold a sit-in.

This sector will show its support for the organic law project to guarantee the right to abortion due to rape, presented by the Ombudsman’s Office on June 28, 2021, at the request of the Constitutional Court.

That although they consider that there are points in the law that must be strengthened and that are perfectible to guarantee its adequate implementation, the proposal in general responds and includes the demands collected during the national dialogue of women’s and feminist organizations held on May 29, 2021 .

In the opinion of this group, the proposed law puts women, girls, adolescents and people with the possibility of pregnancy at the center, prioritizing comprehensive care, restitution and reparation for survivors of sexual violence.

They identified thirteen points in the project that can be improved for the second discussion:

1. Conscientious objection, although they recognize that it is a right of health professionals, but consider that the law should not allow conscientious objection in cases of abortion due to rape.
2. Gender, ethnically differentiated interculturality, disability, mobility, intergenerational and intersectional approaches are included in the law that allows the recognition of differences and inequalities that cross women, girls, adolescents, trans men and people with the possibility of abortion who they are in situations of double or triple vulnerability.
3. Review the rights and principles contained in the Law, as they are two different legal categories, to avoid confusion, since some of the principles contained in the law are rights and others are principles of interpretation for the application of the rule.
4. Regarding the prohibitions in the law, an in-depth review is required so that they clearly establish who is prohibited and what the sanctions would be in case of incurring these prohibitions.
5. We suggest reviewing the articles that speak of effective judicial protection, since as it is written, it could represent a barrier to access or generate confusion.
6. Guarantee that professional and non-professional health personnel are duly trained to care for women and pregnant people of peoples and nationalities, for which it is proposed that a specific protocol be carried out in coordination with the organizational structures, women leaders, midwives and feminist and human rights activists of peoples and nationalities.
7. Guarantee the right of girls and adolescents of peoples and nationalities to receive information in their mother tongues and in a culturally pertinent manner, ensuring that community authorities do not interfere in what is decided by them.
8. Incorporate indigenous justice into the law, because in many cases of sexual violence they are first prosecuted by community authorities such as councils, which can be an obstacle to access and recognition of the right to abortion due to rape.
9. The law must include training, awareness-raising to address racism and discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation in the public health system.
10. Incorporate, in a specific section, the rights of trans men, non-binary people and other pregnant people, access to all those treatments and medical supplies to guarantee their integral health before, during and after abortion.
11. Review the role of the Rights Protection Boards in the implementation of the law, so that it is in accordance with their competences in the protection of the rights of girls / boys and adolescents.
12. Women with cognitive disabilities and women in the deaf community should be considered specifically because they are more vulnerable to sexual violence.
13. The generic use of the term pregnant people is of concern, so we propose that women, girls and pregnant people be used throughout the text of the law. (I)