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Abortion in Uruguay is legal on request before twelve weeks of gestation, after a five-day reflection period. Abortion has been legalized in Uruguay since 2012.
Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
is one of only four countries in South America where abortion is legal on request; the other three are
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
,
Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
and
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...
.


Legislation

Prior to legalization, the punishment for having an abortion was 3 to 12 months in prison, while performing an abortion was punishable by 6 to 24 months in prison. A judge could mitigate the pregnant woman's sentence in certain circumstances. These included economic hardship, risk for the woman's life, rape, or family honor. On November 11, 2008, the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
voted 17 to 13 to support a bill which decriminalized abortion. This bill was vetoed by President Tabaré Vázquez on November 14 of the same year. In December 2011, the Senate voted 17 to 14 to support a bill which would decriminalize abortion in their country. The bill would allow abortion after 12 weeks (fetal age 10 weeks) in cases of rape or incest. President
Jose Mujica Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galile ...
has said he would sign the bill if it passed the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
. The Chamber of Deputies later passed the bill.


Abortion methods and results

Before abortion was legalized, Uruguay's women suffered 20,000 hospitalizations because of unsafe abortion every year, until a harm reduction strategy was adopted to enable women to initiate medical abortion at home.
Medical abortion A medical abortion, also known as medication abortion, occurs when drugs (medication) are used to bring about an abortion. Medical abortions are an alternative to surgical abortions such as vacuum aspiration or dilation and curettage. Medical ...
is non-surgical, so it does not introduce instruments into the womb; danger of infection from septic abortion is therefore much lower.


History

Abortion was made illegal in Uruguay in 1938. Many women and girls died every year from complications of unsafe abortions. In 2004, a team of professionals including gynecologists, midwives, psychologists, nurses and social workers founded a group called ''Iniciativas Sanitarias'' ("Health Initiatives"). As part of a larger goal to promote sexual rights and abortion as a "human right", they focused on unintended or "unwanted" pregnancies and their consequences. They say that women should not have to pay for abortion of the unborn child's life with their own lives, and that pregnant women have a right to health information and emotional support, as well as post-abortion medical care. Their group aims to provide both respect and confidentiality. In 2012, Uruguay decriminalized abortion. While a number of politicians and advocacy groups protested its legalization, in 2013, they failed to muster the required support for a national referendum to settle the matter, and the political positions are varied, with leaders from all the parties that think differently.


See also

*
Abortion law Abortion laws vary widely among countries and territories, and have changed over time. Such laws range from abortion being freely available on request, to regulation or restrictions of various kinds, to outright prohibition in all circumstances ...


References

{{Uruguay topics Law of Uruguay Society of Uruguay