Nicaragua's ban on abortion 'compels rape and incest victims to give birth'

Amnesty report details shocking effects of country's penal code which criminalises abortions in all cases

Nicaragua's ban on all abortions, even when a woman's life is at risk, is compelling incest and rape victims to give birth and contributing to an increase in maternal deaths, according to a report from Amnesty International.



Official figures show 33 girls and women died in pregnancy in the past year, compared to 20 in the previous year, it says. But the numbers are feared to be greater as the government itself has acknowleged incidents of maternal deaths are under-recorded.


Previous to that, "therapeutic" abortions were allowed in certain circumstances where continuation of the pregnancy was life-threatening.



"There is only one way to describe what we have seen in Nicaragua ‑ sheer horror," Kate Gilmore, Amnesty International's executive deputy secretary general, told a press conference in Mexico City. "Children are being compelled to bear children. Pregnant women are being denied essential life saving medical care."



The charity is calling for the immediate repeal of the penal code, and a guarantee of safe and accessible abortion services for rape victims and women whose lives or health would be at risk from the continuation of pregnancy. It also wants protection for those who speak out against the law, and "comprehensive" support to be given to women and girls affected by it.

The report, The total abortion ban in Nicaragua: Women's lives and health endangered, medical professionals criminalised claims the law is in conflict with the Nicaraguan obstetric rules and protocols issued by the ministry of health, which mandates therapeutic abortions in specific cases.

The church has been seen as a powerful force behind the ban in a country where an estimated 85% of the population is Catholic. Just 3% of the world's countries, including El Salvador and Chile, have such an absolute ban in place.

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