Uruguay abortion poll is won by single vote

Last edited Wed Sep 26, 2012, 10:30 PM - Edit history (1)

Uruguay abortion poll is won by single vote
Published on Thursday 27 September 2012 00:00

Uruguay has voted by a razor-thin margin to legalise abortion, becoming only the second country in Latin America to make abortions accessible to all women during the first trimester of pregnancy.

The vote in Uruguay’s chamber of deputies was 50-49 after several MPs on each side of the debate said they could not in good conscience go along with their parties, and allowed substitutes to vote in their stead.

President Jose Mujica has said he will allow the legislation to become law, if the senate
approves the changes. The senate has approved an even more liberal version of the abortion measure.

The chamber of deputies’
legislation would give women the right to a legal abortion
during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, and decriminalise later-term abortions when the mother’s life is at risk or when the foetus is so deformed that it would not survive after birth.
In cases of rape, abortions would be legal during the first 14
weeks.

More:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/international/uruguay-abortion-poll-is-won-by-single-vote-1-2548548