Latin America

Judi Lynn

(160,542 posts) Thu Oct 18, 2012, 02:09 AM Oct 2012

Uruguay Senate Approves First-Trimester Abortions

Uruguay Senate Approves First-Trimester Abortions
By SIMON ROMERO
Published: October 17, 2012

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Uruguay’s Senate approved a bill on Wednesday that allows women to have abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy for any reason, opening the way for one of the most sweeping abortion rights laws in Latin America.

The bill, approved by Uruguay’s 31-member Senate by a 17-to-14 vote, had been narrowly approved in September by the country’s lower house. While some prominent political leaders in Uruguay have opposed the measure, President José Mujica has supported it. Alberto Breccia, a top aide to Mr. Mujica, said Wednesday that the president had no plans to veto the bill, almost ensuring that it would become law by early November.

The abortion measure points to the political changes under way in Uruguay, which has a population of 3.3 million. In another debate closely followed in Latin America, Mr. Mujica, a former guerrilla, is also pushing for the legalization of marijuana.

Other nations, namely Communist-led Cuba and Guyana, the English-speaking South American country with fewer than 1 million people, have also legalized abortion. Elsewhere in the region, Colombia has eased a ban on abortion, allowing it in cases including rape, incest and when a woman’s life is in danger, while Mexico City legalized abortion in 2007.

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/world/americas/uruguay-senate-approves-first-trimester-abortions.html?=&_r=0

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Uruguay Senate Approves First-Trimester Abortions (Original Post) Judi Lynn Oct 2012 OP

Good for Uruguay! Warpy Oct 2012 #1

You've added information a lot of us have never heard, yet. Judi Lynn Oct 2012 #2

Warpy

(111,267 posts)

1. Good for Uruguay!

Reply to Judi Lynn (Original post)

Thu Oct 18, 2012, 02:46 AM

Oct 2012

Brazil has managed to lower the poor's birthrate by one novel approach: they've supplied power to the slums so that people now can get TVs to watch. The telenovelas have featured women from all sorts of walks of life, the most successful of them having limited families to three or fewer children. The message is sinking in for women in the slums, and they're much more loath to be baby machines.

Add to this government supported birth control and you have a true revolution going on.

I suppose decriminialized early abortion will eventually be a part of the package. For now, electricity allowing people to watch TV dramas has made an immense impact.

(Read all about it in The Economist last year if you want to find the story)

Judi Lynn

(160,542 posts)

2. You've added information a lot of us have never heard, yet.

Reply to Warpy (Reply #1)

Thu Oct 18, 2012, 05:19 AM

Oct 2012

Looks as if having light instead of deep darkness at night also would bring an amazing psychological difference in the way they see their lives, as well.

The idea that there could be such a profound awakening as a by-product (realizing other people choose to have smaller families) is so wonderful. For very poor people it could make all the difference in the quality of their lives.

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