By Jessica Reed
Today American voters will vote yes or no to a list of propositions and ballot questions. In California the Proposition 85, which would prohibit abortions for Californian teens until 48 hours after their parents' consent, started a great wave of disagreement amongst bloggers. This is not a West Coast debate only, as the abortion ban campaign in South Dakota, which accompagnying measure could soon overturn Roe v.Wade, has cost a grand total of $4 millions.
Last year when asked about who would be exempt for the abortion ban, South Dakota State Senator Bill Napoli triggered a scandal when replying with this statement: "A real-life description to me would be A real-life description to me would be a rape victim, brutally raped, savaged. The girl was a virgin. She was religious (...)" (video of the interview here).
In South America, Nicaragua recently passed a ban on all abortions (including those to save a mother's life). The bill was supported by the Sandinista and newly re-elected president Daniel Ortega (openDemocracy article). Chile currently observes the same legal restrictions, as many women are sent to jail for abortion-related offenses. A couple of months ago, the New York Times published an amazing front-page article by reporter Jack Hitt who visited El Salvador, where abortion is illegal, and where interviewing anyone who had had an abortion is tricky business.
Things are not looking up in Europe either : last week the Polish parliament introduced a constitutional amendment that would ban all abortions in the country. Fortunately there is some encouraging signs: Portuguese voters are soon likely to make a decision thanks to a referundum. It is believed that nearly two-third of the population is in favour of reproductive policy changes which would legalise abortions.
Picture via digitalgrace's flick Page.
