Friday, June 30, 2006
Talk about messed up priorities
Last year I talked about an effort by some Chavista deputies in the National Assembly to at least partially legalize abortion. Currently it is illegal in Venezuela. As far as I know the legalization efforts went nowhere as even many Chavistas are opposed to loosening restrictions on abortions.
Worse, we are seeing now that the anti-abortion laws aren't just some arcane holdover on the penal code but actually get enforced. In the state of Zulia a health care provider may soon be facing murder charges for alledgedly helping a young girl get pills meant to induce an abortion. The girl is currently in critical condition in the hospital. The Venezuelan equivelant of the FBI has already visited the health care center and gathered forensic evidence for the proseduction. And the authorities have said that the doctor involved will definitely be charged the crime of performing an abortion. But should the girl die the charges will be raised to murder.
Now I don't mean to be disrespectful of anyone elses values or religious believes. The subject of abortion is a contraversial one. But in a country where over 9,000 people who have already been born are murdered each year it seems like misplaced priorities to be spending your time investigating health care providers for performing abortions.
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Worse, we are seeing now that the anti-abortion laws aren't just some arcane holdover on the penal code but actually get enforced. In the state of Zulia a health care provider may soon be facing murder charges for alledgedly helping a young girl get pills meant to induce an abortion. The girl is currently in critical condition in the hospital. The Venezuelan equivelant of the FBI has already visited the health care center and gathered forensic evidence for the proseduction. And the authorities have said that the doctor involved will definitely be charged the crime of performing an abortion. But should the girl die the charges will be raised to murder.
Now I don't mean to be disrespectful of anyone elses values or religious believes. The subject of abortion is a contraversial one. But in a country where over 9,000 people who have already been born are murdered each year it seems like misplaced priorities to be spending your time investigating health care providers for performing abortions.
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