Bad news about abortion in Nicaragua
A friend sent this to me from the Nicaraguan women's movement...
Hi all,Greetings from Nicaragua, where the women's movement is in absolute shock. I can confirm that a group of Catholic priests and representatives fromEvangelical groups were let into the National Assembly in Managua this morning (my colleagues watched them go in), and women were shut out. Theoriginal request to change the penal code and criminalize abortion in allits forms came from a closed-door meeting between legislators and representatives of the Catholic and Evangelical hierarchies, during whichlegislators agreed to "fast-track" the request, the whole thing has gonedown in less than a month. Meanwhile, NO representatives from the women's movement have been allowed to participate in any stage of this abominablelegislative process, despite repeated requests. The whole thing has been ablantantly political gentlemen's agreement between influential members of the church, the current president, and three out of the four politicalparties currently vying for support from the Catholic church. TheSandinistas, the historic party of Nicaragua's revolution, have reversedtheir position and completely sold women out.Bear in mind that Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the WesternHemisphere with among the highest rates of adolescent pregnancy and maternalmortality in the region, sex ed virtually does not exist here, and women can rarely afford contraception and need a permission slip from their husbandsto get sterilized. Women of all ages from women's collectives acrossNicaragua (joined by many men in solidarity) mobilized earlier in October demanding to have a say in the legislative process (their request wasdenied), then held an all-night vigil last night and an all-day protesttoday. At no point were their demands heard by anyone in the government. Spanish speakers can read more at http://www.puntos.org.ni/default.php ,there are also links to Latin American feminist radio vignettes athttp://www.puntos.org.ni/servicios/actividades/noticias/default.php?acti=932 . Andrea
Hi all,Greetings from Nicaragua, where the women's movement is in absolute shock. I can confirm that a group of Catholic priests and representatives fromEvangelical groups were let into the National Assembly in Managua this morning (my colleagues watched them go in), and women were shut out. Theoriginal request to change the penal code and criminalize abortion in allits forms came from a closed-door meeting between legislators and representatives of the Catholic and Evangelical hierarchies, during whichlegislators agreed to "fast-track" the request, the whole thing has gonedown in less than a month. Meanwhile, NO representatives from the women's movement have been allowed to participate in any stage of this abominablelegislative process, despite repeated requests. The whole thing has been ablantantly political gentlemen's agreement between influential members of the church, the current president, and three out of the four politicalparties currently vying for support from the Catholic church. TheSandinistas, the historic party of Nicaragua's revolution, have reversedtheir position and completely sold women out.Bear in mind that Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the WesternHemisphere with among the highest rates of adolescent pregnancy and maternalmortality in the region, sex ed virtually does not exist here, and women can rarely afford contraception and need a permission slip from their husbandsto get sterilized. Women of all ages from women's collectives acrossNicaragua (joined by many men in solidarity) mobilized earlier in October demanding to have a say in the legislative process (their request wasdenied), then held an all-night vigil last night and an all-day protesttoday. At no point were their demands heard by anyone in the government. Spanish speakers can read more at http://www.puntos.org.ni/default.php ,there are also links to Latin American feminist radio vignettes athttp://www.puntos.org.ni/servicios/actividades/noticias/default.php?acti=932 . Andrea
posted by mbrigell at 3:12 PM
1 Comments:
Ah, it makes me sick. Any idea what the political motivation behind this move was? If the churches and the politicians are in bed together, what are the politicians to gain from the churches.... are the churches buying them straight our, or are there other benefits.... And if the churches are buying them right out it's probably with the people's contributions toward the churches, which means the people are paying for their own oppression.... how sad.
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