We, activists of the World March of Women – an international, feminist movement – hereby make public our declaration of repudiation in response to the Uruguay’s president Tabaré Vázquez’s veto of the Defence of Sexual and Reproductive Health law.

A large step towards the recognition of women’s rights was taken with the approval of the Defence of Sexual and Reproductive Health law – including the de-penalisation of abortion – by the Legislative powers in Uruguay. It was also an expression of the desire of the Uruguayan citizens for the law to become a reality, shown by the over 60% support for the law in all surveys. For many years the women’s movement in the country has struggled to make the issue of abortion visible, and the opinions of the majority of Uruguayans have tended towards the elimination of criminal punishment for women who resort to abortion.

Uruguay is the first country in South America whose parliament approved a Defence of Sexual and Reproductive Health law that includes the de-penalisation of abortion, and the country is a model to other left-wing governments and other countries in the region, following the example of the City of Mexico.

We know that in diverse countries where abortion has been legalised, the statistics prove that the number of abortions does not rise as a consequence of legality. On the contrary, it is a fact that the penalisation of abortion results in unsafe abortions rather than a reduction of this practice, leading to the deaths of many women, especially the poorest. Uruguay occupies one of the highest rankings with regard to maternal mortality resulting from unsafe abortion and, therefore, the veto of the Defence of Sexual and Reproductive Health law by the Uruguayan president, Tabaré Vásquez, condemns many more Uruguayan women to the same fate: serious threats to their lives and to their physical and psychological health.

“The decision to become a mother should be made freely and with desire; motherhood should not be an obligation. Motherhood should be understood as a social function and, therefore, States should provide all necessary conditions for women to decide with sovereignty if they want or don’t want to have children, and when they want to have them. Women who want to avoid pregnancy should be guaranteed family planning services and those who need to terminate an unwanted pregnancy should be assured access to legal and safe abortion within the public health system. No women should be prevented from being a mother. No women should be obliged to become a mother”. What this entails is the recognition of the rights of each woman to autonomy and auto-determination regarding her body, sexuality and life.

We stand in solidarity with the women who suffer the consequences of unsafe abortion and support the Uruguayan women in their continued struggle for their sexual and reproductive rights.

Women on the March until we are All Free!

14^th November 2008
World March of Women