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November 22, 2006
Woman looking out window
The Nicaraguan National Assembly and president OKed a bill eliminating abortion to save a woman’s life, therefore banning all abortions.
Photo courtesy of Betty Press, Panos Pictures.

On Nov. 17, Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolaños signed a bill outlawing all abortions, even those that would save a woman’s life. Bolaños’ approval is only the latest episode in a monthlong struggle in the Central American country.

Even though the bill was approved, representatives from the country’s women’s groups are attempting to gather 200,000 Nicaraguans’ signatures in a bid to request that the National Assembly reconsider the bill. They also plan to file a suit before the Nicaraguan Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of the legislation. Furthermore, international human rights organizations and advocates have said that the Nicaraguan ban exposes the country to scrutiny in global human rights courts.

Bolaños’ approval follows the bill’s October introduction and passage in the Nicaraguan National Assembly, the country’s leading legislative body. Despite the objections of the women’s movement, the Ministry of Health, physicians’ associations, United Nations agencies, international donors and NGOs such as Ipas, more than 50 of the legislators voted to remove a penal code clause that allowed abortion when the pregnancy jeopardized the woman’s survival. Although no deputies voted against the legislation, 29 members were absent for the vote.

After repealing Article 165, Nicaragua joins a small club of nations — including Chile, nearby El Salvador and Malta — that ban all abortions.

With this change, Nicaraguan women who need medically necessary abortions have no choice but to continue a pregnancy that could kill them. Only two dozen legal abortions have been performed in the Central American nation in the last three years; the new law has codified what, in practice, has been a virtual ban.

The small number of legal abortions contrasts with the number of unsafe procedures, which can result in debilitating injuries and death; Ipas research estimates that some 32,000 unsafe abortions occur in Nicaragua annually. In Latin America, the World Health Organization believes that up to 21 percent of all maternal deaths can be attributed to unsafe abortion.

As Nicaragua bucks the global trend of liberalizing abortion laws, the decision has been drawing worldwide attention. Representatives from the European Union and the United Nations asked Nicaragua to delay a vote on the bill until after a contentious election campaign marred by sensationalist anti-abortion rhetoric, marches for and against abortion rights, and pressure from the Roman Catholic Church to outlaw abortion.

The legislation also flies in the face of recent Latin American court decisions requiring that countries ensure access to safe abortion care for women. Earlier this year, Colombia’s Constitutional Court found that denying women access to safe abortion care violated their constitution and women’s human rights.

For more information, contact:
Kirsten Sherk
Senior Associate, Media Relations
e-mail: sherkk@ipas.org
phone: 919.960.5612
fax: 919.929.0258