From the title, the Executive proposed changes to the bill on abortion for rape and redefined that this cannot be a right, but an exception; therefore, the law must “regulate” and not “guarantee” the voluntary termination of pregnancy for girls, adolescents, and women in the event of rape.
The text with the 61 observations to the bill under construction entered the Assembly this March 16 at 11:39, and the National Assembly has 30 days to process the objections, in which it can acquiesce or insist on what was initially approved by the full.
For the raid 70 votes are needed; to ratify, 92 wills. And, according to the first reactions of the representatives of the benches, it is complex to obtain the 92 votes to insist on the text that the Legislature approved with 75 votes.
Among the observations that concern the legislators are the elimination of abortion for rape as a right, that the requirements to access the interruption of pregnancy have been changed and that the term has been unified in twelve weeks, without considering exceptions for reasons of vulnerability.
They also question the implementation of the principle of repetition for the perpetrator, because the Executive suggests that the person responsible for the crime of rape will have to cover the costs and expenses incurred for the execution of the procedure, for which they may repeat such payments.
Abortion is not a right
In the reasoning of the partial veto, the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, clarifies that the Constitutional Court in its sentence spoke of adequately regulating the exemption from punishment of consented abortion in case of rape. Therefore, the Court did not recognize the interruption of pregnancy as a new fundamental human right, but instead extended the exception, because previously non-punishable abortion was limited to cases of rape in people with mental disabilities.
The Executive considers that conceptualizing the procedure of voluntary interruption of pregnancy as a right is contrary to the legal system and obliges the Ecuadorian State to promote and promote abortion, including through the educational system.
As a consequence, for the president, abortion under Ecuadorian law would be both a crime and a right, when it occurs due to a pregnancy resulting from rape, which, he points out, is incorrect.
The president of the Justice Commission of the Assembly, Alejandro Jaramillo (ID), who will be in charge of formulating a non-binding report on the veto, described the presidential veto as a mockery of the work carried out by Parliament, and that -he said- highlights interests personal and religious.
She defended that in the law approved by the National Assembly, access to an abortion for rape has been established as a right, because it is a right of girls and young women to decide about their bodies.
It is noteworthy that it is intended to equal, in the term, twelve weeks to girls, young people and women from rural areas, said Jaramillo, after questioning that the president is not empathetic with the reality that women live in the country. That just as they obtained the 75 votes to approve the project, they will initiate the dialogues to obtain the 92 votes to ratify the initially approved text.
He also questioned the veto of conscientious objection, and pointed out that the Executive intends to implement an institutional objection, which closes the possibilities of a girl, adolescent or woman to exercise a right to health, for which she would have to wander around the country. asking in which hospital there is no conscientious objection.
Requirements
Regarding the requirements to access abortion for rape, the ID legislator said that filing a criminal complaint or a medical examination leads to revictimizing women, and that this text further motivates clandestinity.
UNES legislator Yajhaira Urresta described the presidential veto as disastrous, since there has not been a global reading on the right to choose and to a dignified life for women, and especially for girls under 14 years of age.
That life and the right to choose do not enter into negotiations, Urresta pointed out, after insisting that they are outraged because the Executive believes that life can be negotiated. That they will enter into internal dialogues in the block and even in training to define a position.
The coordinator of the PSC, Esteban Torres, confirmed that on the issue of abortion due to rape, the caucus will have freedom of decision; but that he personally, from the pro-life point of view, considers that the president’s veto is lukewarm, because it is also assumed that the death penalty to which certain Ecuadorians will be sentenced in the womb will already be given up to twelve weeks.
He said that he would have expected the veto of the project to be total, but he commented that there will hardly be 92 votes to ratify.
The legislator rapporteur for the project, Johanna Moreira (ID), pointed out that the panorama in the National Assembly is complicated, because to approve the project they had to sacrifice, even the deadlines that were initially established were sacrificed. She announced that they will not rest until the law is just and restorative; and that, if they do not succeed, they will go to other instances. The veto is incongruous, revictimizing and inhumane, she affirmed. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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