However, the Bolivian Population and Health Survey notes that about 40% of pregnancies in Bolivia are undesirable and, according to reputable estimates by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), it is estimated that about sixty thousand abortions are performed in the country each year. This criminalization of induced and illegal abortion leads to a clandestine practice of people with questionable education and in unsanitary and dangerous conditions, delimiting the responsibilities of those who perform it. Despite the existence of Constitutional Decision 0206/2014[2], social pressure from religious groups and the stigma attached to abortion in public often make it difficult to access, even in cases provided for by law. The Bolivian Chamber of Deputies on Friday adopted Article 153 of a new penal code, which has been discussed in recent days and has decriminalized several cases of abortion under different hypotheses. At the same time, the law continues to make abortion a crime and punishes him with ± up to three years in prison. While the old Bolivian Penal Code did not punish abortions after©rape or in cases of danger to ± woman`s health, the current Penal Code also©declares abortions performed before the eighth week of pregnancy and ordered by women students or women with children exempt from punishment. Elderly or disabled people in your care. The director or head of service, in his capacity as legal representative of the health service, may under no circumstances invoke conscientious objection. Since they are institutional and not individual representatives, they must guarantee that legal abortion takes place within the first 24 hours. In Bolivia, there is an important step forward in terms of women`s rights, as was done a few months ago in countries like Chile.
A few days ago, after months of discussions, the Chamber of Deputies adopted the new Penal Code, which aims to extend in article 153, already more than famous and mentioned, the causes that allow Bolivian women to have abortions. Feminists and human rights activists working on these issues argue that abortion rights provoke the strongest reactions in any society. This is one of the first struggles to face: the struggle for bodies, and it is usually the last one that states pay attention to when developing public policy. The Constitutional Court has ruled that rape victims do not need judicial authorization or criminal proceedings to obtain a legal abortion. For women whose life or health is threatened by pregnancy, only the medical report is required. In both cases, the woman`s consent is equally important. In 2014, the Bolivian Constitutional Court issued judgment 0206 of 2014, which meant some progress that you should be aware of. This constitutional decision makes it clear that the prerequisite for access to abortion is the consent of the woman (girl, adolescent, adolescent, adult), which is why it can be said that every woman, regardless of her age, has the right to have an abortion in these circumstances.
Another point of discussion was whether or not poverty should be included as a sufficient condition for suspending abortions. The reformed parliamentarians wanted to do so, but the point lends itself to attacks by criminalizers who accused them of using abortion as a birth control mechanism. Ultimately, the socioeconomic status requirement was removed, although it remains implicit in the decriminalization of abortion for women who have families to support. Nurses, psychologists and social workers or other persons who assist the doctor in the legal termination of pregnancy may under no circumstances invoke conscientious objection. This discussion is shaking Bolivian society today and dominating the media. But abortions continue to be performed by Aymara, Quechua and Guarani women (sometimes through herbal teas) and non-indigenous women in cities; They are practiced by atheists and Catholics. Recently, Catholics for the Right to Vote, with the support of the Alliance for Solidarity, conducted an opinion poll among the Catholic population in Bolivia asking what a Catholic woman who chose to have an abortion. Just over 19 percent said they didn`t need to confess it, and 53 percent said they should only profess God. Yet the Catholic Church in Bolivia trumpets speeches about the obligation to imprison women who have abortions and the social and divine guilt that will fall on them.