However, with the creation of the Fifth Republic (the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela), it is necessary to review the other legal instruments in the light of the progress supported by the new Magna Carta. Thus, initiatives have been taken to amend the Penal Code, this time the Board of Directors of the Supreme Court (TSJ) publishes the draft Penal Code in 2004 after more than two years of laborious work, carried out by a team of 15 lawyers. It should be noted that although this project contains important innovations to decriminalize abortion, it was conducted behind closed doors, there was no consultation with civil society or the women`s movement. Read more: Abortion in©Latin America in numbers: its legal status and impact on each country The new penal code expands the reasons for the decriminalization of abortion. According to this legislation, abortion is not punishable during the first eight weeks of pregnancy and in the following circumstances: if the woman is a student or responsible for the elderly, disabled or other minors bound by blood or not; in case of fetal malformations incompatible with life; if the pregnancy is the result of assisted reproduction to which the woman has not consented; and whether the pregnant woman is a girl or a teenager. Similarly, the voluntary termination of pregnancy during the first eight weeks does not constitute a criminal offence if: it is carried out to prevent a present or future risk to the life of the pregnant woman; is carried out to prevent a present or future risk to the overall health of the pregnant woman; and if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. Later, in mid-1986, a bill to reform the Penal Code was submitted to the Congress of the Republic, decriminalizing abortion in cases of sexual rape. This project was analyzed by Dr. Sonia Sgambatti in her publicity work as Professor of The Chair of Forensic Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of the Central University of Venezuela, in which she presents her arguments in favor of abortion. However, the Criminal Code has not been reformed. In the field of FMV, the Medical Association has approved the practice of abortion in the following districts: for medical reasons of the mother (if she is in a serious condition or in danger of death), by malformations in the fetus or if the woman has been a victim of stubbornness.
Nevertheless, the National Congress – now the National Assembly – was advised to amend the legislation in order to legally suspend the complaint for the reasons already mentioned. On the other hand, free abortion was rejected and the consensus of medicine was allowed to discontinue the complaint if there was evidence that it had been performed for the following purposes: for therapeutic purposes, in case of stubbornness or if there was physical or mental harm that prevented or disrupted the life of the fetus. What is the abortion situation in Venezuela? Protesters march down a street during a rally for the decriminalization of abortion in Puebla, Mexico©, Tuesday, September 28, 2021.Photographer: Koral Carballo/Bloomberg (In addition to illegal abortions, mifepristone and misoprostol pills are also illegal. This promotes speculation: each pill has an exorbitant value and 12 are needed to terminate a pregnancy before 12 weeks – according to WHO protocol – so that not all women can acquire it. This illegality promotes the smuggling, buying and selling of pills are carried out secretly with unreliable people, and in addition to ignorance of the pills, it leads to the deception of selling pills for headaches instead of misoprotel, which increases the level of anxiety and stress of women who decide to terminate their pregnancy. In Venezuela, abortion is illegal. In fact, our penal code, which dates back to 1897, makes abortion a crime; It is allowed only if the pregnant woman is threatened with death, and such a restriction, instead of reducing the number of abortions, increases it. The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that in countries where abortion is completely banned, it is not allowed to save a woman`s life or maintain her physical health, in contexts where 1 in 4 abortions is safe, this leads to the assumption that restricting access to legal abortion does not reduce the number of such abortions. That is, its illegality does not reduce its practice.
In Venezuela, abortion is illegal. The current penal code of 1915 makes abortion a crime. Voluntary termination of pregnancy is a reality and is common. Since the beginning of humanity, women have resorted to the voluntary termination of their pregnancies to avoid continuing with an unwanted pregnancy. No woman gets pregnant or has an abortion. Abortion occurs as a last resort, as women unknowingly become pregnant despite the use of contraceptives. As we know, contraceptive methods, whether natural, hormonal or barrier-free, are not 100% effective. That is, there is a percentage of the risk at which the woman can get pregnant. The most disadvantaged women, who have no economic resources, are most at risk of becoming pregnant. In addition, the lack of formal education and information on sexual and reproductive health increases the risk. Deputies from President Hugo Chávez`s Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) presented two articles of the reform of the penal code that would legalize abortion in Venezuela for cases of rape and incest.