Amnesty slams Guatemala bill to punish abortion, gay couples

Amnesty slams Guatemala bill to punish abortion, gay couples

Associated Press
September 5, 2018

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Amnesty International says a proposed Guatemalan law on abortion providers and gay couples is "absurd."

The Guatemalan congress is debating proposals that would ban recognition for same-sex couples and forbid teaching that homosexuality is acceptable.

Amnesty said Wednesday that the measure known as "The Law for the Protection of Life and the Family" actually threatens lives and families.

Continued: https://www.yahoo.com/news/amnesty-slams-guatemala-bill-punish-abortion-gay-couples-145618685.html


Women’s groups drop Guatemala abortion clause over church dissent

Women’s groups drop Guatemala abortion clause over church dissent

Published on Sept 5, 2018
AFP

Women’s rights activists were forced into a hasty retreat Tuesday in the face of fierce church-led opposition to proposed legislation to loosen strict abortion laws.

Sponsors of the bill aimed at protecting underage victims of sexual abuse opted to remove a controversial clause that would decriminalize abortion for girls aged 14 or under who have been abused.

The influential Catholic and Evangelical churches organized a massive rally on Sunday to protest against the bill and in support of “life and the family.”

Continued: https://www.journalducameroun.com/en/womens-groups-drop-guatemala-abortion-clause-over-church-dissent/


Guatemalan congress to debate contradicting abortion bills

Guatemalan congress to debate contradicting abortion bills

04 September 2018

Guatemalan legislators are to start a confusing debate on Tuesday over two bills proposing changes to the country's strict abortion laws: one looking to loosen them and the other to toughen them.

Currently, abortion is only allowed in the conservative Catholic-majority Central American country if a mother's life is in danger.

A bill sponsored by the leftist Convergencia opposition party wants to expand that to allow underage girls that have been the victims of sexual abuse to abort in the first 12 weeks.

Continued: https://www.france24.com/en/20180904-guatemalan-congress-debate-contradicting-abortion-bills


Guatemalan Congress Uses Fuego Volcano Tragedy as Smokescreen for Unpopular Anti-Abortion, Amnesty Bills

Guatemalan Congress Uses Fuego Volcano Tragedy as Smokescreen for Unpopular Anti-Abortion, Amnesty Bills

Published 9 June 2018

If approved, the law would allow amnesties in cases of crimes against humanity in a country where 45,000 people were forcibly disappeared during the civil war.

A congressional body in Guatemala approved Friday two controversial bills as the citizens of the country are still struggling to cope with the aftermath of the deadly Fuego Volcano tragedy. One of the measures criminalizes abortion and bans same-sex marriage while the other would allow the state to give amnesties to persons implicated in crimes against humanity.

Continued: https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Guatemalan-Congress-Uses-Fuego-Tragedy-as-Smokescreen-for-Unpopular-Anti-Abortion-Amnesty-Bills-20180609-0004.html


“Niñas, No Madres” (Girls, Not Mothers) regional campaign, Latin America

“Niñas, No Madres” (Girls, Not Mothers) regional campaign, Latin America

by International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion
July 28, 2017

Planned Parenthood Global, Amnesty International, Grupo de Información en Reproducción Elegida Mexico (GIRE) and Latin American Campaign against Unsafe Abortion (CLACAI) have joined efforts to raise awareness on forced motherhood and its impact on girls’ lives and futures across Latin America through the “Niñas, No Madres” (Girls, Not Mothers) regional campaign.  The campaign calls for comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and safe, legal abortion services to end forced motherhood in girls in Latin America.

In the framework of the International Day of Action for Women’s Health, the campaign launched a call to women to share on social media what was their dream when they were girls, along with a childhood photo. The response was amazing: women from all over the region lit up social media with the hashtag #NiñasNoMadres. The timelines, full of cute pictures, brought attention to the toll that forced motherhood has taken on thousands of girls in the region. More than 40 national and international media outlets published pieces about the campaign, including Huffington Post, BuzzFeed and  AJ+.

Latin America is the only region in the world where births among girls under 15 years old is on the rise. Forced motherhood in girls is an urgent public health and human rights problem.

In Guatemala, five girls under the age of 14 become pregnant every day. In Nicaragua, the number of pregnant girls aged 10-14 years old increased 47% from 2001 to 2009. In Ecuador, pregnancy among girls under the age of 15 has increased by 74% in the last decade. In Peru, every year, more than 1,100 births are to girls 12-13 years old.

Planned Parenthood Global has produced the report “Stolen Lives” in English and Spanish, which summarizes qualitative and quantitative research conducted in Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Peru to document the dire physical, mental, and social health consequences of forced pregnancy on girls living in these countries. This report was used as input for the Hemispheric Report on Sexual Violence and Child Pregnancy recently released by the Organization of American States’ Committee of Experts of the Follow-Up Mechanism to the Belém do Pará Convention (MESECVI), which issues recommendations to States, including “ensuring that all pregnancies in girls are considered high risk and allowing legal termination of pregnancy.”

Join us in demanding a better future for girls in Latin America. Follow the campaign on Facebook @ninasnomadres and visit http://www.ninasnomadres.org for more information.

SOURCE: Planned Parenthood Global, email 17 July 2017

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Source: International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion: http://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/ninas-no-madres-girls-not-mothers-regional-campaign-latin-america/


This Boat Sails Women Into International Waters To Give Abortions

This Boat Sails Women Into International Waters To Give Abortions
“Abortion is a matter of social justice.”

By Sarah Ruiz-Grossman
May 05, 2017

A tiny nonprofit is bringing major attention to some countries’ restrictive reproductive health laws by delivering abortion pills to women ― in international waters.

Dutch group Women on Waves navigates its 36-foot sailboat to the coasts of countries that restrict abortion, brings women aboard, and sails them into international waters to give them abortion pills for free. Women on Waves steers its passengers more than 12 miles off the coast, where the boat operates under the laws of its country’s flag ― Austria, which allows abortion during the first three months of pregnancy.

Continued at source: Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/women-on-waves-abortion-boat_us_590b8338e4b0d5d9049a857c


Dutch ‘abortion boat’ arrives off the coast of Mexico

Dutch 'abortion boat' arrives off the coast of Mexico
April 21, 2017

Women on Waves says it is offering free, legal, medical abortions till nine weeks of pregnancy in international waters.

Women on Waves has visited waters off Guatemala, Ireland, Morocco, Poland, Portugal and Spain [File: Reuters]

A Dutch sailing boat offering abortions has arrived in international waters off Mexico's west coast, according to the organisation which operates it.

The vessel, which operates often in defiance of some countries' laws, took up position on Friday off Guerrero state on Mexico's southern Pacific coast.

Women on Waves, a non-profit group, said in an online statement that it was offering "free legal medical abortions till nine weeks of pregnancy" to women who needed them. It said its ship "has all required permits" and would receive women until Sunday.

Continued at link: Al Jazeera: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/04/dutch-abortion-boat-arrives-coast-mexico-170422042001781.html


Guatemala Expels ‘Abortion Ship’ Activists From Washington State

Guatemala Expels 'Abortion Ship' Activists From Washington State
By Tom Banse

Originally published on March 2, 2017 6:30 pm

A husband and wife from Port Townsend, Washington, are on their way home after being expelled from Guatemala. The Washingtonians and several other international activists narrowly avoided arrest during a maritime abortion rights protest.

Merilee Nyland Evans and her husband Daniel volunteered to go to Guatemala aboard a 36-foot sailboat run by an activist group named "Women on Waves." The Dutch-based group sails to countries with restrictive abortion laws to offer free abortions at sea.

Continued at source: KNKX News: http://knkx.org/post/guatemala-expels-abortion-ship-activists-washington-state


Guatemala authorities expel Dutch ‘abortion ship’

Guatemala authorities expel Dutch ‘abortion ship’

AFP-JIJI
Feb 27, 2017

GUATEMALA CITY – Guatemala has expelled a Dutch “abortion ship” carrying activists who had vowed to help women circumvent the country’s long-standing prohibition against terminating pregnancies, the army said Sunday.

Activists from the group Women on Waves had been guarded aboard their moored sailboat by a navy vessel, Saul Tobar, commander of Puerto Quetzal on Guatemala’s Pacific coast, told reporters.

“Notified of its expulsion from the country’s territorial waters for having failed to comply with immigration regulations” late Saturday, the crew requested permission to set sail, he said. The activists saw no patients.

Continued at source: Japan Times: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/02/27/world/guatemala-authorities-expel-dutch-abortion-ship/#.WLRPELqXDMg


Guatemalan immigration office expels Women on Waves abortion ship

Guatemalan immigration office expels Women on Waves abortion ship
The Dutch boat offers free abortion services in countries where terminating pregnancies is banned.

By Ananya Roy
February 25, 2017

Guatemalan authorities on Friday (24 February) expelled a Dutch boat run by Women on Waves, a non-profit organisation (NGO) that provides free abortion services to women living in countries where the procedure is banned.

The boat was detained on Thursday, a day after it landed at a private pier in the Port of San Jose at Marina Pez Vela, about 120km south of the capital Guatemala City.
Continued at source: IB Times: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/guatemalan-immigration-office-expels-women-waves-abortion-ship-1608485