Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso partially rejected a law regulating voluntary abortion for victims of rape, shortening the termination of pregnancy for abused girls to 12 weeks.
In a letter posted on Twitter, the Conservative President wrote that he “decided to comment on the bill in order to fully comply with the decision of the Constitutional Court.”
The legislature that recorded a majority of negative votes must decide whether to accept the 30-day government amendment or approve the original document on February 18.
The National Assembly stipulated in the law that women under the age of 18 living in rural areas who were raped can have an abortion within 18 weeks of pregnancy, and adults and people in urban areas within 12 weeks of pregnancy can have an abortion.
The lasso, the only veto period within 12 weeks of pregnancy, argues in the Constitution that “we are all equal” and that “the determination of legal differences according to the conditions of the place of birth or place of birth of a citizen is the basis of the Constitution.”
Last April, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador expanded access to abortion in rape cases. Prior to this ruling, only women with disabilities or at risk of death could voluntarily terminate their pregnancy.
In Ecuador, women who have suffered an abortion for unacceptable reasons are sentenced to up to two years in prison.
- “Painful reality” -
Democrat left-wing MP Johanna Morella, who announced the bill, tweeted that the short deadline would “affect only the poorest and most forgotten people, causing our women to die in hiding.”
Speaking of Morella, he said, “President @LassoGuillermo has a partial veto and does not understand the painful reality that our girls live every day.”
According to official data, Ecuador has the third highest teenage pregnancy rate among girls and adolescents in Latin America, and seven children under the age of 14 give birth every day.
The ruler, who said he did not agree with the law, submitted 61 comments to the document, which included the refusal of conscientious objections of medical personnel to military service and the need for abortion in case of rape.
“The Constitutional Court explicitly ordered the legislature to request an abortion in a rape case, but Congress actually did not do so,” said the former right-wing banker Lasso in a letter.
For example, in a document sent to the National Assembly, the ruler stated that the law “does not impose obligations to carry out medical examinations of victims in order to identify violations and protect their health, and does not collect evidence for criminal investigations.”
One of the requirements of the lasso was to file a rape complaint.
Feminist group Surkuna claims that, according to prosecutors, there were about 42,000 rape complaints between August 2014 and November 2021.
Last week, members of the US House of Representatives asked the lasso to enact a law on abortion without changing rape. Through this rule, Tamara Talasik Bronner, director of Human Rights Watch for the Americas, said the president “has the opportunity and responsibility to live up to the campaign's commitment to respect the rule of law.”
PLD/CJC