Nicaragua: Abortion Ban Threatens Health and Lives | WPN World People News

Nicaragua’s total ban on abortion is putting women and girls’ health and lives at risk, Human Rights Watch said on Jul 31. The country’s 2006 law punishing abortion – without any exceptions, even if pregnancies are life-threatening or resulted from rape – has driven abortions underground. The ban has not stopped abortion, but has made it more unsafe.

Women and girls with crisis pregnancies are getting unsafe clandestine abortions. Often too afraid to seek medical care when complications arise from such abortions, some women and girls delay seeking care and do not disclose to doctors the cause of complications. Medical providers, caught in a conflict between the law and medical ethics, have reported women and girls to police for suspected abortions. Under Nicaragua’s criminal code, women and girls who terminate pregnancies face sentences of up to two years in prison, and medical professionals can be sentenced to up to six years for providing abortions.

“Nicaragua’s ban on abortion has sown fear and uncertainty among women and girls, endangering their lives, denying them autonomy and privacy, and interfering with medical care,” said Sarah Taylor, women’s rights advocate at Human Rights Watch. “Guaranteeing women and girls access to safe and legal abortions would go a long way toward fulfilling their right to health and will help stop preventable maternal deaths.”

In early 2017, HRW interviewed six women in Nicaragua who had had unwanted and crisis pregnancies, all of whom had sought illegal abortions. Human Rights Watch also interviewed 23 medical providers, lawyers, representatives of organizations providing support and services to women and girls, and women’s rights activists. The interviews took place in urban and rural areas, and on both coasts of Nicaragua. Due to the threat of prosecution and social stigma, Human Rights Watch is not identifying individuals, organizations, or the locations of these interviews.

Nicaragua has high rates of domestic and sexual violence, which can result in unwanted pregnancies. Available data indicates that young women and adolescent girls are at particular risk of unwanted pregnancy from rape.

One woman Human Rights Watch interviewed reported that her partner raped her repeatedly, resulting in two unwanted pregnancies. She gave birth after the first unwanted pregnancy, and had a clandestine abortion after the second. Service providers and activists said this is a common problem affecting women and girls, and victims face stigma and blame. “They are called names, told they asked for it, that rape is their fault,” one legal professional told Human Rights Watch.

“Sexual violence is a serious threat for women and girls in Nicaragua,” said Taylor. “They should not be doubly victimized by being forced to carry to term the pregnancies that can result from rape.”

Medical and psychosocial service providers described the impact the ban is having on the life and health of their patients, especially women with low incomes, and girls, who have less ability to make decisions regarding their health care. A medical provider told Human Rights Watch that wealthier women can pay for safer abortions – even if illegal – but poorer women often use riskier methods or lack funds to pay for safer procedures. She said that “poor women suffer most” from the ban. One psychologist told Human Rights Watch that patients with unwanted pregnancies, many of whom suffered sexual abuse, talk to her about their fear and anxiety about their pregnancies and the ban. Some have attempted suicide after realizing they were pregnant, she said.

Stigma is a significant barrier to women and girls requesting and receiving medical care, including post-rape and post-abortion care. Religion exerts a powerful influence on everyday life in Nicaragua, and there is intense religious opposition to abortion. Numerous activists, providers, and women and girls who had terminated their pregnancies told Human Rights Watch that stigma, including condemnation from religious leaders, was a source of fear and shame.

The Nicaraguan government has published little data on enforcement of the abortion ban, and no information on the health effects, including on maternal mortality. But information from other countries has established that restrictive abortion laws are not associated with fewer abortions; they just make abortions less safe.

The Nicaraguan government does not publish data on the estimated number of illegal abortions, nor the number of women, girls, or abortion providers who face arrest, criminal charges, convictions, or sentences. Some activists said that, without the kind of high-profile convictions for abortion seen in neighboring El Salvador, people assume that the Nicaraguan government is not applying the ban. But a 2016 report, drawing on the scant data that exists, concluded that between 2003 and 2013, some 290 people were denounced (accused in a police report or complaint) or detained pursuant to the abortion ban. The data, drawn from police records, did not cover further criminal proceedings.

Many of the women and girls interviewed by Human Rights Watch said they feared possible imprisonment for terminating crisis pregnancies. Activists and service providers told of cases in which doctors or hospital administrators turned women and girls with suspected abortion complications over to the police.

Civil society is mobilizing to support women and girls with unplanned pregnancies, and to change the law. A citizens’ initiative submitted to the National Assembly in 2015 sought to decriminalize abortion when a pregnant woman or girl’s health is at risk, including in the case of rape. This proposal was signed by over 6,000 people. In April 2017, the Assembly rejected the initiative without debate.

The government has also been obstructing international funding for civil society. Activists told Human Rights Watch that this is blocking valuable support for women’s organizations, including those supporting women with crisis pregnancies. Lawyers and service providers said this has resulted in groups reducing or ending programs, including for rape survivors. “We know that anyone who speaks about this must be very brave and prepared for the consequences,” one activist told Human Rights Watch.

“Civil society organizations are providing vital information and support to women and girls,” said Taylor. “International donors need to back this vital work, and the Nicaraguan government should not block it.”

Source:Human Rights Watch