One woman handcuffed by police after suffering a miscarriage, another forced to bear her rapist’s child. A doctor who risks imprisonment to end pregnancies that threaten the lives of patients. The reality of healthcare in Honduras provides a “frightening preview” of what could happen in America if the pushback on reproductive rights continues, Human Rights Watch has warned.
Researchers from the organisation spoke of the “enormous suffering” of women and girls in Honduras, where there is a total ban on abortion in all circumstances.
“What our research in Honduras shows is what life looks like for women and girls when abortion is banned or restricted,” said Margaret Wurth, a senior woman’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The recent actions in Alabama show states are trying to dismantle rights that Roe v Wade put in place.
“This is a frightening preview of what could come to pass in the US.
“Banning abortion does not stop it, but it forces women and girls to put their health and lives at risk to end pregnancies behind closed doors, in fear and desperation and without medical care. Honduras’ draconian law is leading to enormous suffering among women and girls and their families.
“Banning abortion forces women to choose between having a clandestine abortion, where it could put their lives in danger, or having a baby against their wishes.”
Honduras is one of several countries in Latin America that criminalises abortion regardless of circumstance, even when a pregnancy results from rape or incest or puts a woman’s life in danger. Having an abortion or helping to facilitate one is a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment for up to six years.
Last month, Republican lawmakers in Alabama caused widespread uproar by passing a near-total abortion ban in the state, making it a crime to perform the procedure at any stage of pregnancy. The move bucked a global trend towards expanding legal access to abortion, such as the landmark 2018 referendum in Ireland and Chile’s decision to allow abortion in some circumstances.
Events in Alabama have triggered a battle that US anti-abortion campaigners hope will lead to the supreme court and potentially overturn Roe v Wade, the landmark ruling that legalised abortion in the US in 1973.
Public health data suggests at least 40% of pregnancies are unplanned or unwanted in Honduras, a country where nearly one in four women have been physically or sexually abused by a partner, according to a 2011-12 government survey.
The study, entitled Life or Death Choices for Women Living Under Honduras’ Abortion Ban, features the stories of Honduran women affected by the abortion law.
“I wanted to die,” said one woman of an unwanted pregnancy. “I wanted to destroy myself,” another said.
Several of the women interviewed said they knew immediately that they needed to have clandestine abortions.
The research shows that, in 2017, 820 girls aged from 10 to 14 gave birth in Honduras, according to data form the health secretary. As 14 is the age of sexual consent under Honduran law, many of these girls became pregnant from rape.
More than 30,000 adolescent girls aged 10 to 19 give birth in Honduras every year, Human Rights Watch found.
Researchers said they did not know exactly how many women and girls have clandestine abortions, but one Honduran organisation estimated that 50-80,000 abortions occur each year.
In 2017, more than 8,600 women in Honduras were hospitalised after suffering complications from abortion or miscarriage, according to data from the health secretary.
No one has been prosecuted under the abortion articles of the criminal code in the past three years, according to the attorney general’s office. But seven people were accused of having or providing abortions, and two were detained, the researchers found.
Among the most “troubling” cases researchers encountered was that of Lorena*, 22, who miscarried without knowing she was pregnant. Doctors who treated her reported her to the police when they suspected marks on her belly meant she had tried to abort the baby. She is currently awaiting trial and could serve up to six years in prison if found guilty. Her lawyer has advised her to plead guilty, in order to reduce the potential sentence to two or three years.
* Name has been changed