Managua, Nicaragua, Aug 28, 2009 / 19:24 pm
Ipas, one of the world’s largest abortion advocacy groups, has joined critics of Nicaragua’s decision to further restrict abortion. The group characterizes the decision as a violation of women’s human rights, but the country’s lawmakers say they are simply recognizing the right to life from “the moment of conception.”
Nicaraguan lawmakers recently decided that “therapeutic” abortion violates the country’s understanding of its international obligations.
Ipas, which distributes the early-term abortion device known as a manual vacuum aspirator, claimed that the decision was unconstitutional and a “setback” for human rights.
The Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), which reported on Ipas’ activities, has noted that Nicaragua is party to the American Convention on Human Rights. Article 4 of the convention says that life shall be protected by law “from the moment of conception.”