We have already briefly analyzed some controversies around the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador to declare unconstitutional the criminalization of abortion in rape cases in 2019.
Since then, the National Assembly of Ecuador was obligated to promulgate a law regulating this procedure. During months, there were several discussions on the working committee tasked with elaborating the law.
There were many so-called “critical points” around the elaboration of the law. One of the most controversial was the temporality in which abortion was allowed. The first proposal was to allow abortion up to 7 months of pregnancy. After an extensive debate, the final text of the law reduced this time to 3 months.
Another important topic around the law was that despite the fact the Court did not recognize any right to abortion, the proposal recognized it as a fundamental human right. This element of the law was ultimately excluded through presidential veto.
The requirements for abortion were another controversial topic. The Court eliminated the penalty for abortion only in rape cases but did not impose mechanisms to determine how to prove rape. Therefore, the proposal initially excluded anything else other than a formulary for women to subscribe before the abortion. This formulary was not a formal denunciation of a rape, which would let many crimes unpunished.
The final text of the law requires a denunciation, a sworn declaration, or a legal medical examination, thus as indicative elements of rape in order to provide the women the abortion access.
Finally, among other very interesting elements established on the law, it imposed in most cases that underage teens and children cannot get an abortion service without their legal representative consent. In Ecuador, as in many countries, the adult age from a legal perspective is 18 years old.
The abortion lay, called “Organic Law to Regulate Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy on Rape Cases” was approved with a majority on the Ecuadorian National Assembly, but it was reformed with the presidential veto on almost 97% of its wording. The Assembly had the chance to revoke the veto with 90 votes, but they did not have enough support. That is how on April 29th, 2022, the presidential veto became the new text of the law.
The presidential veto was a much more positive proposal from a pro-life perspective. It included, for example, the application of the pro homine principle not only for women but for the unborn. It also provided a more appropriate regulation for the right to conscientious objection.
In conclusion, the Ecuadorian abortion law will still be in public debate, since all pro-life or pro-choice groups were disappointed. Actually, there are currently five claims on the Constitutional Court, appealing the unconstitutionality of the law.
The following months are going to be crucial to determine how the law will or will not be changed by constitutional precedents.
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