Government Officials In Mexico Often Deny Legal Abortions For Rape Survivors, HRW Report Says
HRW on Tuesday also announced that Mexico's government has agreed to pay legal reparations to a 19-year-old woman who was obstructed by government officials from having an abortion after being raped at age 13, the Times reports (Los Angeles Times, 3/8). The case of Paulina Ramirez in March 2002 was appealed by the Center for Reproductive Rights to the Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Ramirez in 1999 was raped and impregnated at age 13 by a heroin user who broke into her sister's home in Baja California, Mexico. After the rape, Ramirez and her mother, Maria Rauz, contacted the state prosecutor's Special Agency for Sex Crimes to obtain permission for Ramirez to undergo an abortion. However, Mexicali General Hospital Director Ismael Iniguez held Ramirez at the hospital for seven days without providing an abortion, during which time she was visited by two women claiming to represent a government agency. According to the case, the women showed Ramirez photographs of "mangled fetuses." Iniguez, who was threatened with 48 hours in jail if he did not comply with the abortion order, told Ramirez before the abortion was scheduled that an abortion could leave her sterile or dead. Ramirez, with her mother's consent, eventually withdrew her abortion request (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 3/11/02). According to the Times, the settlement calls for Ramirez to be paid about $40,000 in legal and medical fees, as well as receive a stipend for her child's education through high school. State and federal officials also agreed to take measures to ensure rape survivors' access to abortion. A spokesperson for Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday confirmed the settlement but would not comment further, according to the Times (Los Angeles Times, 3/8). "This is the most important legal victory for women in Mexico in a decade," Luisa Cabal, director of the International Legal Program at CRR, said, adding, "It is the first time a Latin American government has acknowledged that access to legal abortion is a human right, and now the Mexican government is required to ensure that this right is not violated" (CRR release, 3/8).
"Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
Guvernul a funcþionarilor în Mexic de multe ori refuza avorturi legale pentru viol de urma, spune raportul HRW - Government Officials In Mexico Often Deny Legal Abortions For Rape Survivors, HRW Report Says - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate