TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Inside a little wooden house among the pine and oak forests of western Honduras’ coffee\u002Dgrowing mountains, a woman opened a tiny…
The Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights, estimates that more than 50,000 abortions occur in Honduras annually. It’s unclear how many are medication abortions — in the U.S., they account for over half of all procedures and complications are rare.
“If something breaks, it blows up the network,” said an activist who has been accompanying women getting abortions for 12 years.This report was produced with the support of the International Women’s Media Foundation as part of its Reproductive Health, Reproductive Rights and Justice in the Americas initiative.
Other women learn about the networks via hushed word of mouth. Either way, women seeking abortion help are ultimately put in touch with the person who will be her guide, introduced via pseudonym. Activists take advantage of every trip across the border, hiding the pills in suitcases. Then, packages pass carefully from hand to hand, delivered by taxi or via “drops” with a detailed time, place and description of the contact.
Her mom already was in possession of the pills, as part of her role in the network. Lying on a bed at her sister’s apartment in the capital, the woman felt her mother massage her feet to ease pain from the drugs.Article content For teens in this largely religious country, pregnancy and reproductive rights pose a particular issue. Honduras has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in Latin America, more than double the world average, according to the U.N. Population Fund.
On a March day, two lines of women waited in the gynecological emergency corridor of the country’s main public health center, Hospital Escuela. Some were teenagers with fear on their faces. After the 2009 coup d’etat that removed then-President Manuel Zelaya, husband of current President Xiomara Castro, the emergency contraceptive pill was banned. It marked the start of several administrations linked to ultraconservative churches.
She pledged to legalize abortion again in the three instances previously allowed. But her administration doesn’t have a majority in the legislature, and persistent issues with gang violence and organized crime have diverted much of her attention.Article content There are criminal consequences outside prison. Some women may be banned from leaving the country or may be unable to obtain the criminal record clearance needed for most employment.
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