(CNN Spanish) --
While the whole world commemorated Women's Day, in Guatemala the Congress of the Republic chaired by Shirley Rivera, close to the ruling party, approved a controversial law on Tuesday that criminalizes abortion and rejects sexual diversity in the Central American country.
With 101 votes in favor, 51 absent and 8 against, the deputies gave life to initiative 5272, a document that consists of 21 articles and that was proposed since 2017. It establishes: "the protection of the right to life, the family, freedom of conscience and expression, the institution of marriage between a man and a woman, in addition to the right of parents to guide their children in their sexuality".
In the case of abortion, the law in Guatemala established sentences of 1 to 3 years in prison for women who abort.
With this new regulation and according to articles 4 to 13, the penalties for any type of abortion increased from 5 to 25 years in prison without change.
Article 15 dictates that sexual education must be carried out by parents and prohibits public or private schools from promoting education related to sexual diversity: "Public and private educational entities are prohibited from promoting, in childhood and adolescence, policies or programs related to sexual diversity and gender ideology or teach sexual behaviors other than heterosexuality as normal or that are incompatible with the biological and genetic aspects of the human being.
Regarding article 16 and article 17, same-sex marriage is prohibited and also that from now on couples who are not united in marriage are not taken as valid unions.
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Article 18 imposes guidelines on civil society so that it must not transgress norms and clarifies that any person is free to feel uncomfortable regarding sexual diversity.
"No person may be criminally prosecuted for not accepting sexual diversity or gender ideology as normal, provided that they have not violated any legal provision or attempted against the life, integrity or dignity of the persons or groups that manifest behaviors and practices other than heterosexuality", Article 18.
In the case of article 19, it orders state officials and/or dignitaries to refrain from participating in or promoting acts or activities that contravene all of the previous articles.
While this law was being approved, on the outskirts of the Guatemalan congress, dozens of women who participated all day in different activities in the framework of the commemoration of March 8, protested their disagreement and assured that for this Wednesday there will be mobilizations in rejection of the approval of this law.
In these countries abortion is legal (and in these others it is not allowed under any circumstances)
The Red Incide Jovenes expressed its disagreement and told CNN that: "As Red Incide Jovenes we join the popular discontent before the approval of Law 5272 because it violates human rights such as the right to education and freedom of expression. Also, by declaring as "abnormal" people from the LGBTIQ+ community is part of a discourse of hate and discrimination that validates and promotes the attacks that this vulnerable population suffers. It is also a great violation of human rights that abortion is criminalized, including miscarriage , in a country whose state inefficiency caused more than 70,000 pregnancies in girls in 2021. We believe that girls should not be punished with childbirth when they were also raped. Instead of seeking more rights,this Congress legislates against vulnerable groups and goes back in time to the middle ages.
The Reproductive Health Observatory in Guatemala indicated that during this 2021, 72,077 births were registered among women between the ages of 10 and 19.
According to this entity, 2,041 girls between the ages of 10 and 14 were mothers and that 70,036 adolescents between the ages of 15 and 19 were mothers just last year.
Now it is up to the president of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei, to decide whether to sanction or veto said law.
However, last Sunday, the president announced that, for this March 9, Guatemala will be declared the "Ibero-American Pro-Life Capital."
"On March 9, Guatemala will be declared the pro-life capital for Latin America and we will celebrate it in a big way, with the accompaniment and joy of the international community that is in favor of life, I invite you to join this celebration and find out more of the public policy that makes it possible to protect life and the family," the president said on Sunday, March 6, on his program "In consultation with Dr. Giammattei."
CNN consulted with the OXFAM organizations and the United Nations office in Guatemala for their reaction to this law, but we have not yet received a response.