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Abortion in Puerto Rico

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'''Abortion in Puerto Rico''' is legal. Attitudes in Puerto Rico related to abortion where imposed on the population as a result of American colonial power.  Abortion was legalized in 1937 as a result of US-initiated eugenic policies. In May 2018, the legislature passed restrictions on abortion that were signed into law by the governor in March 2019. In 2019, International Women's Day in Puerto Rico revolved around women taking to the streets en masse to support abortion rights.

Terminology

Main article: Abortion

The abortion debate most commonly relates to the "induced abortion" of an embryo or fetus at some point in a pregnancy, which is also how the term is used in a legal sense.[note 1] Some also use the term "elective abortion", which is used in relation to a claim to an unrestricted right of a woman to an abortion, whether or not she chooses to have one. The term elective abortion or voluntary abortion describes the interruption of pregnancy before viability at the request of the woman, but not for medical reasons.[1]

Anti-abortion advocates tend to use terms such as "unborn baby", "unborn child", or "pre-born child",[2][3] and see the medical terms "embryo", "zygote", and "fetus" as dehumanizing.[4][5] Both "pro-choice" and "pro-life" are examples of terms labeled as political framing: they are terms which purposely try to define their philosophies in the best possible light, while by definition attempting to describe their opposition in the worst possible light. "Pro-choice" implies that the alternative viewpoint is "anti-choice", while "pro-life" implies the alternative viewpoint is "pro-death" or "anti-life".[6] Some right-to-lifers use the term "pro-abort" to refer to pro-choice organizations and individuals.[7] The Associated Press encourages journalists to use the terms "abortion rights" and "anti-abortion".[8]

History

American colonial powers in Puerto Rico had a major impact on the island's relationship with women's reproductive rights and on abortion laws.[9] In 1937, modeled after US-initiated eugenic policies, Puerto Rico adopted more liberal abortion policies which saw the introduction of Malthusian clinics.  Prior to this, abortion in Puerto Rico had been all but illegal.  The changes meant medical doctors effectively became the arbitrators of when it was legal for women to be given an abortion.[9] There was no move by the legislature of Puerto Rico to make abortion legal prior to the 1973 Roe v. Wade US Supreme Court ruling.[9] Research on abortion on the island only began in 1983.[9] In 1993, there were thirteen private clinics on the island offering abortion services.[9] Women in the 1990s in the Caribbean had few options for where they could get legal abortions, with Puerto Rico and Cuba being two of the places offering women the easiest legal access.[10]

Pregnant women in Puerto Rico in 2016 were at risk of getting the Zika virus, which causes major fetal defects. These defects can be so severe that they warrant terminating a pregnancy.[11] Prior to the Roe v. Wade ruling, it was often a bit cheaper and easier for women to obtain abortions in Puerto Rico than it was for women to obtain abortions in the mainland United States. White women were one of the largest groups of women to travel to the island to get an abortion.[12] In 2018 and 2019, the effects of Hurricane Maria hampered women's ability on the island to get access to abortion services.[12]

Legislative history

There was no move by the legislature of Puerto Rico to make abortion legal prior to the 1973 Roe v. Wade US Supreme Court ruling.[9][12] An evangelical minister Senator named Nayda Venegas put forth a proposed law on March 4, 2019 that would require women under the age of 21 to get parental consent before being allowed to have an abortion. This effort failed. [13] On May 7, 2018, Puerto Rico legislature proposed a series of abortion restrictions that were signed into law by the territory's governor on March 7, 2019.[13] The restrictions included girls under the age of 18 being required to get parental consent before being allowed to get an abortion.  An exception was allowed saying, “the minor can go to court if she insists on having an abortion to present their claims to getting an abortion."[13] PS950 was vetoed on the same day, March 7, 2019 by Governor Ricardo Rosselló  who said the legislation imposed “onerous restrictions”  on a woman's ability to access abortion services.  The House then overrrode the veto of PS950. [12]

Judicial history

The US Supreme Court's decision in 1973's Roe v. Wade ruling meant the state could no longer regulate abortion in the first trimester.[14] Abortion also became legal in Puerto Rico as a consequence of this decision.[9]

Statistics

23 out of every 1,000 pregnancies in 1999 were terminated as a result of an abortion.[12][10] In the period between 1991 and 1992, there were an estimated 19,200 legal abortions in the country, with a rate of 22.7 and a ratio of 23.0 for a total abortion rate of 0.68.[10] These rates were amongst some of the lowest in the world.[10]

Contraceptives

During the 1950s, mass sterilization campaigns took place on the island.  When the first medical trials for the contraceptive pill in the United States took place in the 1960s, they occurred in Puerto Rico.[9] In 1994, Puerto Rico used its MCH block-grant funds to provide people with  contraceptive services and supplies.[15] Puerto Rico used social services block-grant funds in 1994 for contraceptive services and supplies.[15]


Abortion rights views and activities

Organizations

Taller Salud is one of the organizations supporting abortion rights.[12]

Views

Taller Salud's Michel Collado said in 2019, “Over the last few years, we’ve been struggling with a government that has eliminated access to sex education and gender perspective in public schools; they also cut funding to the NGOs [non-government organizations] that work with those issues."[12]

Protests

See also: Fourth-wave feminism and International Women's Day

In 2019, International Women's Day in Puerto Rico revolved around women taking to the streets en masse to support abortion rights. Their efforts this day on abortion rights were part of broader 8M efforts to combat gender violence.[13] 107 women in Puerto Rico were killed between 2007 to 2011 as a result of partner violence.  Of these 30 were killed in 2011 alone. In 2018, 23 women were murdered by intimate partners with 53 total women killed as a result of domestic violence that year.[13]

Footnotes

  1. ^ According to the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade:

    (a) For the stage prior to approximately the end of the first trimester, the abortion decision and its effectuation must be left to the medical judgement of the pregnant woman's attending physician. (b) For the stage subsequent to approximately the end of the first trimester, the State, in promoting its interest in the health of the mother, may, if it chooses, regulate the abortion procedure in ways that are reasonably related to maternal health. (c) For the stage subsequent to viability, the State in promoting its interest in the potentiality of human life may, if it chooses, regulate, and even proscribe, abortion except where it is necessary, in appropriate medical judgement, for the preservation of the life or health of the mother.

    Likewise, Black's Law Dictionary defines abortion as "knowing destruction" or "intentional expulsion or removal".


References

  1. ^ Watson, Katie (20 Dec 2019). "JD". AMA Journal of Ethics. doi:10.1001/amajethics.2018.1175. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  2. ^ Chamberlain, Pam; Hardisty, Jean (2007). "The Importance of the Political 'Framing' of Abortion". The Public Eye Magazine. 14 (1).
  3. ^ "The Roberts Court Takes on Abortion". New York Times. November 5, 2006. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
  4. ^ Brennan 'Dehumanizing the vulnerable' 2000
  5. ^ Getek, Kathryn; Cunningham, Mark (February 1996). "A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing – Language and the Abortion Debate". Princeton Progressive Review.
  6. ^ "Example of "anti-life" terminology" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2011-11-16. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Horror: Violent mob of topless pro-abort feminists attacks praying men defending cathedral (VIDEO)". LifeSiteNews. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  8. ^ Goldstein, Norm, ed. The Associated Press Stylebook. Philadelphia: Basic Books, 2007.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Azize-Vargas, Yamila; Avilés, Luis A. (1997). "Abortion in Puerto Rico: The Limits of Colonial Legality". Reproductive Health Matters. 5 (9): 56–65. ISSN 0968-8080.
  10. ^ a b c d Henshaw, Stanley K.; Singh, Susheela; Haas, Taylor (1999). "The Incidence of Abortion Worldwide". International Family Planning Perspectives. 25: S30–S38. doi:10.2307/2991869. ISSN 0190-3187.
  11. ^ Gani, Aisha (2016-01-29). "Zika virus: the options facing pregnant women across Latin America". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Staff, MTV News. "As Activists Rebuild Puerto Rico, Lawmakers Are Trying To Restrict Abortion". MTV News. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  13. ^ a b c d e "Puerto Ricans fight against women's rights setbacks on International Women's Day". NBC News. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  14. ^ Buell, Samuel (1991-01-01). "Criminal Abortion Revisited". New York University Law Review. 66: 1774–1831.
  15. ^ a b "Public Funding for Contraceptive, Sterilization and Abortion Services, 1994". Guttmacher Institute. 2008-04-24. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
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