MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguayan president partially vetoes abortion bill

Pte. Tabare Vazquez

Uruguay's President Tabare Vazquez vetoed on Thursday a bill decriminalizing abortion passed earlier this week by Congress, said Tourist Minister Hector Lescano. The two Houses lack the three-fifths required vote to override the veto, he added.

"In the next few hours, the legislative power will be notified, but what's certain is that (the veto) has already been signed and recorded. It's an irreversible fact that underscores the president's determination" said Lescano interviewed in television. The bill, hailed by some lawmakers as a milestone, would allow women to end their pregnancy in the first 12 weeks of gestation because of economic, family or age reasons. In addition, abortion would be legal for health, deformation or risk to the mother's life. The Roman Catholic Church had voiced "deep discomfort" with the bill it considered tantamount to legalizing the death penalty and said anyone who participated directly in stopping a pregnancy would be excommunicated. A recent opinion poll showed 57% of Uruguayans support access to abortion while 42% oppose it, but 63% were against a presidential veto on the bill. Vazquez a doctor by profession and with strong Catholic roots had announced that he would veto the Law of Sexual and Reproductive Health, because it included elements "with which I disagree, philosophically and biologically". Some ruling party lawmakers tried but failed to win Vazquez's support for the bill that would have lifted a 70-year ban on abortions. They also failed to get his support in proposing a referendum on the measure. Under current legislation dating back to 1938, women who abort and the people who assist them face jail terms. Abortion is only permitted in cases of rape or when the life of the woman or the foetus is endangered. Although the practice is banned in Uruguay researches estimate a considerable number are performed and a couple of abortion clinics are busted by police every each year. Recently three Uruguayan doctors were sentenced to prison for performing abortions. Pro-abortion groups and legislators argue that the current situation only punished the poor because "the rich can always find a way round the law". Most countries in Latin America allow abortion only in cases of rape, when the mother's life is in danger or if the foetus has severe deformities. Only Cuba and Guyana allow abortions without restrictions in the first trimester. The initiative is also seen as a political challenge to President Vazquez, on the fourth of his five year term from his own ruling coalition since his position on the matter has always been very clear.