The plenary session of the National Assembly (AN) of Ecuador this Thursday was adjourned without passing a resolution on the country’s President Guillermo Lasso’s veto on the abortion law in cases of rape.
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During the debate, MP Pierina Correa, sister of former President Rafael Correa (2007-2017), tabled a motion to accept the President’s veto on the law, which received only 17 votes in favour, 73 against and 40 abstentions.
In order for the motion of the assembly member of the opposition bloc Union for Hope (UNES) to succeed, it had to be supported by 70 MPs, i.e. an absolute majority.
After that, the President of the AN, Guadalupe Llori, closed the meeting.
“The session is adjourned, have a nice holiday!” Llori said succinctly, leaving no opportunity to continue the debate.
By Friday, parliament had to rule on Lasso’s veto of the law approved by the AN in March, which regulates voluntary abortion in the South American country in the event of rape.
According to the legislative procedure, this standard is published in the official register, but taking into account the objections formulated by the government of Lasso.
#neuron ����#Ecuador: Assembly votes on law decriminalizing abortion in cases of rape. Women’s groups denounce that the alternative proposed by the executive imposes impossible conditions on the victims. Every day in the country 7 girls under the age of 14 give birth pic.twitter.com/CleBtLYqLY
— NeuronaSV (@NeuronaSV)
April 15, 2022
Among the changes made by the Executive Branch to regulations passed in Congress, it appears that in cases of rape, an abortion may be performed up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, and not up to 18 weeks as is required for girls, adolescents, and women Indigenous people were laid and women from the area.
In addition, the Lasso government has included that a complaint, affidavit or medical examination proving the sexual assault must be submitted.
Ecuadorian feminist groups have pointed out that the executive branch’s objections impose impossible conditions on the victims.
In Ecuador, a country where an average of seven girls under the age of 14 give birth every day, abortion is decriminalized even when the woman’s life is in danger or the pregnancy is the result of rape by a woman of limited intellect.