Abortion for rape in Ecuador may be practiced up to 12 weeks of gestation with the exception of girls, adolescents and women from rural and intercultural areas whose term is extended to 18 weeks.
The National Assembly had to modify four times article 19 of the bill that guarantees the voluntary interruption of pregnancy for rape of girls, adolescents and women in case of rape, to obtain at least 75 votes that made possible the approval of the text that will go to knowledge of the Executive for its sanction or veto.
Approved bill sets 12 weeks as the maximum term to abort in case of women victims of rape
Until the last day of the vote, negotiations were held between all the political forces. There was a disparate vote of the assembly members of all the legislative benches, no block voted organically, for this reason the results were tight in a Parliament of 137 assembly members.
The processing of this bill of 64 articles, two general provisions, six transitory provisions, nine amendments and a final provision arose after the ruling of the Constitutional Court of April 2021 that decriminalized abortion for rape in Ecuador in case of rape , and first ordered that the Ombudsman prepare a proposal and based on that text, the National Assembly approve a law that regulates the voluntary interruption of pregnancy in cases of rape.
Deadlines and voting
During the construction of this bill, four proposals for terms for the interruption of pregnancy were presented, whose issue constituted a critical knot that caused divisions in all the benches that chose to free their assembly members from partisan discipline so that they vote in accordance with their religious beliefs, conscience and convictions.
The first term was up to 28 weeks of gestation for women over 18 years of age and no term for girls, adolescents and vulnerable women, which caused repudiation among legislators and pushed the Justice Commission to rectify and therefore raised for first discussion 22 weeks of pregnancy for women under 18 years of age and 20 weeks of pregnancy for women over 18 years of age.
For the second debate, the Justice table reduced the pregnancy to 16 weeks for the interruption, but with the exception of girls, adolescents and women from rural and intercultural areas, who were given a term of up to 18 weeks of pregnancy.
That text, in the plenary session of the Assembly on February 17, did not pass and obtained 66 votes, since 4 votes were missing for its approval, which led to the suspension of the session until consensus was found for a new text.
The rapporteur legislator, Johanna Moreira (ID), asked for more time to modify the text and secure support, and stated that abortion for rape may be performed up to 12 weeks for women over 18 years of age, with the exception of girls, adolescents and women from rural areas and indigenous nationalities who may do so up to 18 weeks of pregnancy. She obtained 75 votes in favor, 14 abstentions, 41 votes against and 7 absentees.
When moving the changes of deadlines before the plenary session, Moreira affirmed that today women over 18 years of age sacrifice themselves for the country’s raped girls, with the sole objective of finding the votes and approving the project that proposes a term of 12 weeks. and an exceptionality of 18 weeks of gestation for those vulnerable groups.
In addition, a change was proposed that ensures that girls and adolescents have accompaniment in the process of abortion due to rape.
Moreira announced that once the law enters into force in the Official Registry, after passing the Executive’s review, they will present a reform to continue insisting on extending the terms for the interruption of pregnancy due to rape. If there is a veto and it reduces the deadlines, it is more likely that there will not be the votes to ratify what Parliament approved, he warned.
Sofía Espín, from the UNES bench, questioned that with the approval of the project, a constant haggling of weeks was revealed, until they reached 12 weeks of gestation, which is what international legislation recommended and which was included in the minority report that she signed together with assembly members Ricardo Vanegas (PK) and Dalton Bacigalupo (ID). In other words, they never saw the technical criteria and privileged the political, she noted.
He insisted that for women over 18 years of age, a maximum period of one and a half months of pregnancy should be established after the rape, and on the other hand, in girls and adolescents twelve weeks was proposed. What was approved by the Assembly could still have been improved, and the UNES legislator hopes that the Executive will veto the law with an adjustment in the times.
protests
Along with the vote, feminist and pro-life groups do not accept what was approved by the legislature. Both sectors carried out sit-ins in front of the National Assembly with banners, music, flags and handkerchiefs until the text was approved.
Ana Vera, from the feminist group, stated that with the text approved by the Assembly, girls, women and pregnant people are condemned to clandestinity and forced motherhood.
That this sector will analyze the scenario and hope to read the entire proposal to adopt measures later.
Meanwhile, Martha Cecilia Villafuerte, from the pro-life group, announced that in the coming days they will carry out actions from the civil organization to mobilize a campaign for the total veto of the project approved by the Legislature.
In his opinion, the country has seen that the 137 assembly members respond to the ideological pressure of a Constitutional Court that on several occasions has trampled on the Constitution. Villafuerte said that it was one of the scenarios they were waiting for, so a national campaign will be activated to achieve a total veto from the Executive. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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