Caracas, Venezuela, Nov 18, 2004 / 22:00 pm
The Venezuelan organization Volunteers for Life is launching a major effort to challenge two proposed laws that promote the decriminalization of abortion and euthanasia in that country.
Currently the National Assembly is debating a bill called Rights of Women for Fairness and Equality of Gender, which would allow the legalization of abortion in cases of incest and risk to the mental health of the mother.
The other bill, not yet being debated, was drafted by Judge Alejandro Angulo Fontiveros, who proposes a reform of the Penal Code to decriminalize assisted suicide and abortion up to three months in cases of extreme poverty, artificial insemination or transfer of a fertilized ovum without the consent of the woman.
According to Human Life International, of which Volunteers for Life is an affiliate, if approved, both bills “would deal a heavy blow to the right to life of unborn children and of incurable or terminal illnesses.”