{"id":215432,"date":"2019-12-16T12:35:34","date_gmt":"2019-12-16T18:35:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=215432"},"modified":"2019-12-16T00:33:34","modified_gmt":"2019-12-16T06:33:34","slug":"costa-rican-president-increase-abortions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/costa-rican-president-increase-abortions\/","title":{"rendered":"Costa Rican president issues decree that will likely increase abortions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Costa Rica’s President Carlos Alvarado Quesada issued a technical decree on Thursday regulating therapeutic abortion in the nation. The decree will not expand or change the laws, but rather help to clarify how the law is regulated at hospitals and therefore allow more abortions to be committed.<\/p>\n

“The technical norm is not an opening for free abortion nor does it extend the law,” said<\/a> Alejandra Acu\u00f1a, Deputy Minister of the Health Ministry. “It is a guide for the medical professionals who treat these cases to have greater certainty and technical security to address the care of women when their life or health is in danger.”<\/p>\n

Abortion has been called legal in name only<\/a> in Costa Rica. Article 121 of the Criminal Code allows<\/a> abortion when the mother’s health is at risk and when there is found to be no other option to save her; however, the rules surrounding the law, according to abortion proponents, have been unclear, causing fear of legal repercussions among doctors who would commit them. Due to the confusion surrounding the law, or perhaps due to a lack of desire for abortion in the Catholic nation, the Social Security System or Caja registered<\/a> just 80<\/a> abortions in total in Costa Rica between 1998 and 2018.<\/p>\n

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Because of this, Quesada felt that women who were somehow in ‘need’ of an abortion were being prevented from obtaining one. Abortion proponents complain that public hospitals were only allowing abortion if the woman’s life was in immediate danger such as, as U.S. News reported<\/a>, in cases of ectopic pregnancy. However, removing a preborn child during an ectopic pregnancy is not an abortion<\/a>. Abortion proponents in Costa Rica have been pushing for abortion for mental health reasons as well as when the preborn child receives a difficult diagnosis. This technical decree will distinguish when and how a “therapeutic” abortion can be committed.<\/p>\n

According to The Tico Times<\/a>, the Health Ministry and Casa Presidencial stated that these are the rules of the legislation:<\/p>\n