.- In
a report posted on the group’s website, the pro-abortion organization
Human Rights Watch is demanding that Mexican leaders provide “safe and
legal” abortion for victims of rape or incest.
In the section
entitled, “Detailed Recommendations” of the report “The Second Assault
Obstructing Access to Legal Abortion after Rape in Mexico,” the group
demands Mexican officials “support the right to immediate unhindered
access to safe, humane, respectful, and free abortion services in those
cases where abortion currently is not criminalized and in accordance
with human rights standards.”
Likewise the
group recommends amending the law which created “the National Institute
for Women to explicitly include a mandate to further women’s and girl’s
access to abortion where currently permitted by law.” It also
calls on the Mexican Congress to pass “laws that ensure women access to
voluntary, safe, and free abortions after all forms of rape or incest,”
“to guarantee the provision of safe and free abortions at public health
institutions,” and to “repeal penal code provisions that criminalize
abortion, especially those that punish women and girls who have had an
abortion.”
In their report,
Human Rights Watch calls for the implementation of a “zero-tolerance
policy for public officials’ failure to support victims of violence in
their pursuit of justice and redress, bearing in mind that such redress
includes access to legal and free abortion,” as well as the
implementation of “meaningful sanctions against public officials who
obstruct women’s and girls’ right to abortion after rape.”
The report
leaves no room for conscientious objection on the part of heath care
workers or for parental consent for underage girls who wish to obtain
abortions.
The group also demands the “pardon and release” of “all prisoners serving sentences for having procured or induced abortions.”
Ironically, the
report also speaks of the need for “physical and psychological
accompaniment and guidance for pregnant rape victims who have asked for
a voluntary legal abortion,” although there is no mention of
post-abortion syndrome, which often arises when the mother realizes she
has taken the life of her unborn child.
In a final note,
the group indicates that “the obligation of the public health system to
provide free abortion services to victims of rape is already
established in the legislation of some Mexican jurisdictions. The
national legislation should not distance itself from the standard set
by this level of protection.”
The entire report can be found at: http://hrw.org/reports/2006/mexico0306/
Human Rights Watch demands Mexico legalize abortion
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