The Parliament of Honduras, with a conservative majority, approved Thursday, January 21 a constitutional reform which toughens the ban on abortion, yet one of the strictest in the world.
Article 67 of the revised Constitution now stipulates that any termination of pregnancy "
by the mother or by a third party
" is "
prohibited and illegal
", but above all that this clause "
can only be reformed by a majority of three quarters of the members. of Parliament
”.
Abortion has been constitutionally banned in Honduras since 1982. According to opposition MP Doris Gutierrez, “
what they did was set this article in stone because we can never reform it. '96 votes are needed
', out of the 128 in Parliament.
Women's rights groups have mobilized in recent weeks to demand that parliament allow abortion in certain cases, such as rape.
Honduras is one of the few countries in the world that prohibits abortion, including in cases of rape or incest, serious malformation of the fetus or when the life or health of the mother is threatened.