This content was posted on April 15, 2022 – 1:51 AM April 15, 2022 – 1:51 AM
Quito, 14 April (EFE) .- The National Assembly (Parliament) of Ecuador on Thursday avoided deciding on President Guillermo Lasso’s partial veto of the law decriminalizing and regulating abortion for rape, put into effect by the could enter the Ministry of Justice if it is not debated in the chamber.
Legislature President Guadalupe Llori ended a session set to analyze the issue after the Constitutional Court refrained from evaluating the President’s veto and ordered the Legislature to follow regular procedure.
With a curt “Session suspended, happy holidays!” Llori ruled out every option for parliamentary debate, without yielding to motions aimed at making a decision on the executive’s veto of the law governing cases of voluntary abortion of rape in the country.
The decision followed a motion by MP Pierina Correa, sister of former Unes bloc President Rafael Correa (2007-2017), to override the President’s veto, which was unsuccessful and 17 votes in favor, 73 against and received 40 abstentions.
Parliament had until this Friday to rule on the partial veto formulated by Lasso, failing which the rule will be entered in the official register containing the objections formulated by the executive.
The National Assembly explained in a tweet that “it follows from reading the judgment of the Constitutional Court that this body considers that it has no competence to decide on the alternative text presented by the President of the Republic”.
Last February, Parliament passed a law regulating abortion for rape after the Constitutional Court decriminalized that cause in 2021.
Last month, the Ecuadorian President announced his decision to include 61 “alternative texts” in the regulations being discussed in the legislature, allegedly inconsistent with the Supreme Court ruling.
The conservative-leaning president’s proposals include unifying the 12-week prison sentence for abortion for rape, and he did not accept the 18-week exception provided for girls, youth, indigenous people and women in rural areas.
He also proposed “requirements” for access to rape abortion, including filing a complaint, an affidavit or a medical exam proving sexual assault.
In Ecuador, abortion is decriminalized when the woman’s life is in danger or when the pregnancy is the result of rape of a woman with intellectual disabilities. EFE
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