Latin American and Caribbean Day for the decriminalization of abortion.

Excerpt from the website of the Centro de la Mujer Peruana "Flora Tristan"

According to the World Health Organization (1998), 4.2 million women undergo abortions in Latin America and the Caribbean annually. The majority of these abortions are carried out in unsafe conditions, largely due to the clandestine nature of the procedures.

Each year in our region 6,000 women die due to complications from abortions (UNFPA, 1990).

Twenty-one percent of deaths related to pregnancy, birth and post-partum are caused by complications from unsafe abortions (WHO, 1998).

In most Latin American and Caribbean countries, numerous women's organizations have presented proposals to prevent these hidden deaths. They call for the decriminalization of abortion to allow women to interrupt unwanted pregnancies without risking their lives.

The liberalization of abortion laws would prevent death and other negative consequences of unsafe abortions by making safe medical services available to women.

Countries in our region must review their legislation on this issue because most of the international obligations adopted through United Nations agreements have gone unfulfilled by our countries' governments. These unfulfilled obligations endanger the lives of thousands of Latin American and Caribbean women.

September 28 Campaign

In order to influence legislative reform on abortion in our countries, in 1993 women's organizations throughout the region launched the annual September 28 campaign, "Latin American and Caribbean Day for the Decriminalization of Abortion."

This date was established during the Fifth Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Encounter (Argentina, 1990), where participants created this campaign for the right to abortion within the context of human rights.

Hundreds of women's organizations and regional networks in 16 Latin American and the Caribbean countries have taken part in this campaign to demand that laws permitting abortion be upheld and related medical services decriminalized throughout the region.

During the 2003-2005 period, the Peruvian Women's Center "Flora Tristan" will be in charge of the campaign's regional coordination as decided at the general meeting held in San Jose, Costa Rica, December 2002.

Abortion in Debate

Abortion is a public health concern as evidenced by the deaths it causes and its negative and often irreparable consequences in the lives of women.

Abortion is a matter of human rights. To deny abortion is to deny the recognition of women's basic rights.

Abortion is a question of democracy. It is associated with the free exercise of voluntary motherhood, self-determination and the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.

* For more information, contact Cecilia Olea, September 28 Regional Coordination, Centro de la Mujer Peruana "Flora Tristan," e-mail: [e-mail] or [e-mail] or visit the website http://www.campanha28set.org