The Congress of Guatemala, controlled by conservative officials, closed on Tuesday a controversial law providing for tightening abortion fines and banned same-sex marriage, amid claims of human rights organizations and at the request of the president himself.
“The Plenum of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala accepts observations to the decree [sent by several deputies], and it is moved to the archive,” the parliament said.
The law passed last week by a large majority fined women who were interrupted to 10 years in prison and amended the Civil Code to explicitly prohibit same-sex marriage.
It also limited school education to sexual diversity. The proposal, now archived, believed that “minority groups” offered “behaviors and coexistence models different from the natural order of marriage and family” and threatened the “moral balance” of society.
This Tuesday, “Congress President Shirley Rivera did not give the floor to discuss objections to the rule, “they are ashamed to admit that we are right and that they were wrong (...) In any case, it's good that the decree was postponed, “said legislator Lucretia Hernandez of the center-left retail bank Semilla.
Hernandez previously said that the proposed rule is criminalized miscarriages and discrimination against LGBTI people.
The reform interviewed was approved on March 8, in the prelude of the Ibero-American Congress for Life and Family, promoted by a conservative religious organization that declared Guatemala the “Pro-Life capital of Ibero-America” and “light” against abortion. President Alejandro Jammattei took part in the event.
Despite this, the president asked his allies on March 10 to close the board as it violated the Constitution and international conventions.
The Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IACHR) welcomed Jammattei's announcement as the proposed law ignored “the principles of equality and non-discrimination necessary for international law”.
“This law was made too fascist. It seemed like medieval times, “- said at that time AFP activist consortium on sexual and reproductive rights Alma Chacon.
Without proposed changes, the current law criminalizes abortions in Guatemala for up to 3 years in prison. This is allowed and not authorized only when the mother's life is in danger.
In the case of marriage, the current rule ensures that this is a legal union between a “man and a woman”.
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