http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/nicaragua-to-ban-all-abortions/2006/10/27/1161749314665.html
Nicaragua to ban all abortions Catherine Bremer, Managua October 28, 2006 NICARAGUAN MPs have banned abortions for rape victims and women who risk dying in childbirth. The tactical vote for the tough new law came just days ahead of the Central American republic's presidential election. The law was approved with the support of reluctant left-wing legislators who backed it to help their party's leader, Daniel Ortega, a former Cold War foe of the US, return to power in the November 5 election. Barring a veto from President Enrique Bolanos, the law will take effect in 30 days. The bill will overturn a 130-year-old policy permitting abortions in exceptional cases and put Nicaragua among several countries, mostly in Africa and the Middle East, with total bans. Nicaragua's powerful Catholic Church and the ruling Liberal Party had promoted the law and Mr Ortega's Sandinista party supported it to avoid alienating church leaders and religious voters in the last days of a tight campaign. The law changes included jail terms of up to 30 years for women, and their doctors, who terminate a pregnancy, but legislators put off a vote on that issue, meaning the current maximum sentence of six years will stand. Medical associations and women's groups had campaigned against the new laws and, with the country locked in a fierce debate, senior UN officials had called on MPs to think carefully before voting. Mr Ortega, who led a 1979 revolution and fought a civil war against US-backed Contra rebels throughout the 1980s, has a strong lead, but he would face a tough run-off if he failed to win in the first round of voting. US officials worry Mr Ortega will join an anti-US bloc in Latin America led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and are backing his conservative rival, Eduardo Montealegre. When Mr Ortega was in power, his government reinforced a law giving women the right to terminate pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, or if three doctors stated a woman's life was at risk. This year, however, Mr Ortega has refused to be drawn on the abortion law and has pushed a vague pro-life message. Twenty-five Sandinistas in the National Assembly supported the proposal, although some sent their back-ups to cast the vote rather than do it themselves. The party's 13 other MPs stayed away from the session, where the law was passed in a 52-0 vote. Hundreds of people had protested outside the National Assembly in the capital Managua on Wednesday night, saying the law would be a death sentence for the estimated 400 women who suffer ectopic pregnancies in Nicaragua each year. "They are forcing women and girls to die. They are not pro-life, they are pro-death," protester Xiomara Luna said. The Catholic Church says allowing abortion in certain cases is an "aberration", and rallied thousands to marches in favour of the change, which puts Nicaragua alongside countries such as Chile and El Salvador in imposing a blanket ban. Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo, the influential former archbishop of Managua, recently urged voters to back candidates "who look after life, who defend life from conception". REUTERS [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
