Managua, Nicaragua, Oct 22, 2006 / 22:00 pm
The Committee on Justice of the Nicaraguan Congress has approved a bill that would reform the country’s Penal Code and outlaw “therapeutic” abortion.
The committee-approved bill will now go before the entire Congressional body for debate on October 26.
If passed, those who obtain abortions as well as doctors who perform them could be sentenced to 10-30 years in prison. Nicaragua’s Penal Code currently allows therapeutic abortion in cases of rape or incest, life of the mother, and irreversible fetal deformation.