The conservative president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, announced on Tuesday that he will exercise his veto right in a bill that is currently being debated in parliament and provides for the extension of the right to abortion in cases of pregnancy due to rape.
"I have decided to veto, I can not say whether it will be in whole or in part (of the bill), it will depend on the final text approved by parliament," said the head of state. the duration of his interview.
The parliament, where the president's party does not have a majority of seats, was yesterday considering a draft law which provides for the termination of pregnancy until the 22nd week for teenagers under 18 and the 20th week for larger.
In April, the Constitutional Court decriminalized abortion in all cases of rape, while until then it was only allowed in cases of rape of women with disabilities, or if the mother's life was in danger.
"Ecuador knows me, I am someone who believes in protecting human life from conception to natural death," President Lasso insisted.
In the Andean country, any abortion performed illegally carries two years in prison.
More broadly, in the predominantly Catholic Latin America, these operations are legal in Uruguay, Cuba, Argentina, Mexico City, and three Mexican states.
It is completely banned in El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
In the rest of Latin America it is only allowed in cases where the mother's life is threatened, in some of them if the pregnancy is due to rape, or if the fetus is not viable.