Posted on 03/21/2006 11:50:24 AM PST by Crackingham
Abortion is illegal in most countries in Central and South America, though the law waives criminal penalties for women who have abortions in certain circumstances: after rape or incest or if their life or health is endangered by the pregnancy. Over the last five years, I have interviewed dozens of women and girls who faced unwanted pregnancies and had abortions in Argentina, Mexico and Peru, all countries that limit access to contraceptives, sex education and abortion. The most common tale I heard was one of desperation.
My experience in Latin America carrie with it three clear lessons for South Dakota.
Lesson 1: Outlawing abortion does not stop women from having them. "What do I care if abortion is legal or illegal?" Marcela E. told me in 2004 in Argentina, where abortion generally is banned. "If I have to do it, I have to do it." The 32-year-old mother of three had a clandestine abortion after her husband raped her.
A community organizer in Argentina told me: "You will not believe what women end up putting in their uteruses to abort." I wish I didn't.
Lesson 2: Providing limited exceptions to an abortion ban does little to improve access to safe abortions.
In reality very few, if any, women get such "non-punishable" abortions because there are no clear procedures. Fearing that they'd be charged with a crime, many of the women I interviewed who might have qualified for a legal abortion because they had been raped or because their health was endangered by the pregnancy did not dare to out themselves as potential abortion candidates. They went straight for the illegal and mostly unsafe back-alley abortions.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
if they didn't have unprotected sex, there wouldn't need to be abortions, would they?
What exactly is a "safe" abortion? Only one death instead of two?
Marcela E. had an abortion "after her husband raped her?" What???????
This is exactly why I OPPOSE this caveat of "abortion only in the case of rape." Any woman can claim sex that she had was "rape."
But as the article says, "Argentina, Mexico and Peru, all countries that limit access to contraceptives..."
Some people would love to limit or forbid contraception here. I'd prefer good contraception which obviates the need for abortion.
The author should not bet large sums of money on this assertion.
As for her interviews with Latin American women, the author should be reminded that data is not the plural of anecdote. While I have no doubt that she was able to find women who confirmed her prejudice in favor of abortion, I do seriously doubt whether those attitudes are representative of Latin women. It is my experience that, in general, Latin culture values children much more than ours does.
so this what you learn to do in "journalism" school, eh?
Outlawing murder, theft and rape does not stop all people from committing those crimes either - does that mean we should get rid of those laws also? What a stupid rationalization.
If so many Latin American countries limit access to contraceptives, why do most Liberals want open borders?
Won't these newly-Amnestied voters who used to live in Latin America be more likely to work towards restricting access to contraceptives?
I can't answer that, since I'm hardly in favor of open borders. However, the anti-contraception posts I've seen around here are primarily from home-grown Catholics and evangelicals.
Booze causes lots of deaths, injuries & damage & Prohibition did not work out too well.
Yeah, we can ban abortion all right. Then rich women will fly to Europe if they want an abortion and middle class women will drive to the abortion clinics that will spring up just over the border in Canada & Mexico. There will also be lots of "miscarriages" and "treatments for irregular periods".
What are we going to do? Send out the Fertility Police like in Communist China or Ceaucescu's Romania to see who's pregnant or not?
You don't believe a husband can rape a wife? Our law does.
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/2086/context/cover/
[snip]But despite such legal risks, Latin America continues to experience abortion rates that are much higher than most countries where it is legal.
There are an estimated 4 million abortions every year across the region. Up to 200,000 clandestine abortions take place in Chile every year--twice as many as in Canada, which has 100,000 a year--and Chile has half the population.
Alonso agrees: "In Latin America, we still have very concrete gender frameworks in terms of male sexual behavior. Men are not supposed to be responsible for the consequences of sexual behavior, but they are supposed to be active sexually . . . Women, on the other hand, still maintain fairly strong gender notions of passivity, of wanting to trust the man. You know there's this whole idea in Latin America of romance and 'maybe if I do get pregnant he'll stay with me forever.'"
_____________
Despite recent legal reforms, domestic and sexual violence are still rampant in all countries in the region [Latin America], affecting an estimated 40 percent of women. In most countries, legislation classifies domestic violence as a misdemeanor rather than as a serious crime (felony), and does not explicitly protect women from marital rape and stalking. Discriminatory attitudes of law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and judges, who often consider domestic violence a "private" matter beyond the reach of the law, reinforce the batterer's attempts to demean and control his victim. Few governments offer battered women a real alternative,
http://www.hrw.org/women/overview-lac.html
simple - act like a lady. (and a gentleman)
Act like a lady, a gentleman, and always "be prepared"!
Laws will not stop abortion.
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