Jakarta, IDN Times – Guatemala’s parliament on Tuesday (8/3/2022) agreed to increase the punishment for abortions for any reason. Not only that, the parliament also agreed to ban all forms of LGBT+ in Guatemala The Guardian.
The decision of the Guatemalan parliamentarian is in contrast to a number of other Latin American countries. The reason is, several Latin American countries, such as Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia agreed to legalize abortion for a number of reasons.
Based on the results of a vote in parliament, it showed that around 101 MPs agreed to pass this law. Meanwhile, only eight people refused and there were 51 members who were not present.
Read also: Guatemala officially legalizes ex-military torture of indigenous people
1. Abortion perpetrators face a sentence of up to 25 years in prison
Through this new law, women who are caught having an abortion for any reason are threatened with a sentence of up to 25 years in prison. In fact, previously the punishment for abortion was only five to 10 years, unless it threatened the mother’s life.
According to this law, same-sex marriage is not allowed in Guatemala. In fact, teachings related to the diversity of sexual orientations and gender ideologies other than heterosexual should not be in schools for children and adolescents.
The law is based on a law proposed by the Viva Party on the pretext of protecting life and family in 2018. Unexpectedly, this law was approved by a majority of parliamentarians known to be allies of President Alejandro Giammattei, it was reported Reuters.
Also Read: Guatemalan President: Severe Punishment for Migrant Smugglers
Continue reading the article below
Editor’s picks
2. Ratification is just waiting for a decision from Giammattei
Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei during a speech. (twitter.com/DrGiamattei) Quoted from BBC, after being approved by a majority of parliamentarians, it is now only President Alejandro Giammattei to sign the promulgation of the law. However, it is still unknown whether Giammattei will agree to it or not, but his party members fully support the policy.
According to a response from a member of parliament named Patricia Sandoval said that this policy could demonstrate the concept of family that we understand so far between women and men.
On the other hand, a member of the legislature who rejects the enactment of the new law named Vicenta Geronimo said that this is a form of human rights violation. It also has a major impact on women in rural areas who do not have access to health infrastructure from the government.
Also Read: Guatemalan President Rejects Corruption Allegations from NYT Media
3. The Ombudsman calls this a form of human rights violation
Meanwhile, the Ombudsman for Human Rights, Jordan Rodas, said that this law violated international conventions signed by Guatemala. In fact, he said that this was declared illegally by the Constitutional Court.
“We will collect documents to appeal against this unconstitutional act, so that this law will not have a major effect on society in Guatemala,” Rodas said.
The passage was unveiled just in time for International Women’s Day celebrations and saw tens of thousands of people take to the streets to protest the law. They also urged the government to give more rights, especially to women who want to have an abortion, quoted France24.
IDN Times Community is a medium that provides a platform for writing. All written works are the sole responsibility of the author.