The Guatemalan parliament, controlled by Conservative officials, closed a controversial law on Tuesday that considered tightening penalties for abortion and a ban on same-sex marriages, at the insistence of human rights organizations and at the request of the President himself.
The Congress reported that “the parliamentary plenum of the Republic of Guatemala accepted the observation of the decree [sent by several deputies] and was transferred to the archives.”
The law, adopted by the majority last week, imposed penalties on women who sentenced them to imprisonment of up to 10 years and amended the Civil Code to explicitly ban same-sex marriages.
It also restricted school education on sexual diversity. The proposal, which was now archived, was thought to suggest that “minority groups” “have different behavior and coexistence models from the natural order of marriage and family,” and threatened the “moral balance” of society.
This Tuesday, “Congress Chairman Shirley Rivera did not provide a floor to discuss objections against the rules”, “They are ashamed to admit that we were right and wrong (...) Anyway, the good thing is that the decree was put on hold.” Councilman Lucrecia Hernández of the Central Left Retail Bank Semilla said.
Hernandez said previously proposed rules lent to the criminalization of heritage and discriminated against LGBTI people.
The reform questioned was approved on March 8 in a prelude to the Ibero-American Congress of Life and Families promoted by a conservative religious group that declared Guatemala as “the pro-life capital of Ibero-America” and a “light” for abortion.President Alejandro Giammatay participated in the event.
Nevertheless, on March 10, the President asked the allies to close the rules because they violated the Constitution and international agreements.
The Human Rights Commission of the Americas (IACHR) welcomed Giammattei's announcement because the proposed law ignored “principles of equality and non-discrimination essential to international law.”
“This law was made too fascist. It looked like the Middle Ages.” Alma Chacón, activist of the Sexual and Reproductive Rights Consortium, spoke to AFP at the time.
In the absence of proposed changes, the current legislation criminalizes abortion by sentencing a maximum of three years in prison in Guatemala, where it is only allowed and not sanctioned when the mother's life is in danger.
In the case of marriage, the current rules guarantee that it is a legal union between a “man and a woman”.
burn/blue/dga