OpenForum – a blog by the Health and Human Rights community

The absolute abortion ban enacted in Nicaragua in 2008 is endangering the lives of women and girls in that country and marks a “grave departure” from the Nicaraguan government’s efforts in improving health and equality, according to a new report from Amnesty International. The report details the results of the ban, which it says has denied women and girls life-saving treatment and prevented health care professionals from providing necessary medicine. Of the 115 maternal deaths that occurred in Nicaragua in the past year, it has been estimated that over 10% (at least 12 deaths) could have been prevented if therapeutic abortions had been available.

The ban, included in Nicaragua’s revised Penal Code, allows no exceptions, even in the case of maternal health, incest, or rape. Previously, therapeutic abortion (performed if the life or health of the woman is at risk because of the pregnancy) was legal but highly restricted – it was only permissible if three medical practitioners deemed it necessary and a family member agreed. Now, however, medical practitioners can even be arrested for treating a pregnant woman with a condition such as HIV/AIDS or cancer, because the treatment may cause injury or death to the fetus. Health care workers can also be prosecuted if a fetus is accidentally injured or harmed during birth. The threat of these harsh legal consequences may simply keep medical professionals from seeing pregnant women at all, to avoid prosecution in the event of unintentional fetal injury or death. Even women who have miscarriages fear being arrested, as it can be nearly impossible to determine whether an abortion was spontaneous (a miscarriage) or intentional.

Women and girls who are raped or victims of incest are also included under the abortion ban. Most reported rape cases in Nicaragua involve victims under the age of 18, and 87% of rape or incest victims who get pregnant are between 10 and 14 years old. In the report, a local NGO described supporting a nine-year-old victim of incest and rape through pregnancy, because no other legal options were available. Young women and girls who have not reached physical maturity have higher rates of pregnancy complications and are particularly endangered by this abortion ban.

The ban was enacted primarily due to pressure from the Catholic Church and other Christian groups; no health or human rights-based assessment of the law’s impact was carried out prior to its passage. Numerous Nicaraguan medical groups oppose the law, including the Nicaraguan Society of General Medical Practitioners, and the ban is in violation of the Nicaraguan Obstetric Rules and Protocols created by the Ministry of Health. Despite this, the National Assembly voted to revoke therapeutic abortion in October of 2006, seemingly “with full knowledge of the severe pain and suffering that necessarily follows from the denial of essential medical services to pregnant women and girls.”

The UN Committee Against Torture, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the UN Human Rights Committee, and the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights (which Nicaragua is a party to) have all strongly objected to Nicaragua’s abortion ban. The Nicaraguan Constitution itself states that “every person enjoys state protection and recognition of the inherent rights of the human person, the unrestricted respect, promotion and protection of human rights…” However, in enacting an absolute ban on all abortions, the Nicaraguan government has seriously harmed efforts to improve the health of women and girls in the country and failed to meet its obligations to protect the human rights of all citizens.