On Nov. 17, the president of Nicaragua, Enrique Bolanos, signed into law a bill eliminating the “therapeutic abortion” exception in the country’s criminal code.
The new law eliminates a loophole that allowed an unborn child to be killed if three doctors certified a woman’s “life or health” was at risk. This so-called “health” exception terminology has been severely abused in some countries to allow virtual abortion on demand.
The new law also ends the permission to abort a child conceived in rape. Pro-lifers argued that an innocent child conceived in rape should not receive the death penalty for her father’s crime.
United Nations officials representing UNICEF and UNFPA, and diplomats representing several Western governments including Canada, the E.U., Sweden, Finland and Norway, attempted to pressure Nicaragua against the legislation.
But pro-life activists around the world sent letters of encouragement to the president.
The legislation reached the president’s desk after passing in the National Assembly on Oct. 26 by a vote of 52-0 against, with nine abstentions.
This article originally appeared Nov. 20 at LifeSiteNews.com and is reprinted with permission.
