I think that there are many methods of contraception and many ways to prevent pregnancy in our time, to avoid at all costs an unwanted pregnancy, abortion in Cuba has become another method of contraception and is bad, because the practice of abortion itself represents a potential danger to the life of the mother. It is a painful and traumatic process, not to mention that it is the consent to decide on the consensual, premeditated and arranged murder of a person who cannot defend himself, who has complete genetic material. More should be done in the area of health, life promotion and prevention. This year, the pandemic caused Cuban families to gather again in front of the television to watch the national novel “The Face of Days.” Lía, a 14-year-old girl, is raped and impregnated by her mother`s boyfriend. For several chapters, there was speculation about it and finally the young woman decides to have an abortion. Despite the fact that the law has been guaranteed in the country for more than half a century, controversy has erupted. And while most of the comments on the networks supported Lía`s decision (even criticizing the novel for conservatively justifying the practice with rape), many voices opposed the so-called “right to life,” demonstrating the growing presence of anti-Catholic and evangelical legal sectors on the island. However, this does not mean that there are no problems accessing abortion services. Recent research has shown, for example, that people who do not live in provincial and municipal capitals have difficulty accessing these services because, for example, they do not have transportation to the facilities where the procedures are performed. And we also know that there are manifestations of corruption to speed up access, and since it is the termination of pregnancy, a procedure that, moreover, has a certain amount of time – so it doesn`t matter if you do it today than if you do it in a month – it`s important. that access to this service does not only mean that it is available there, but that the channels through which it is reached and each of the measures that must be taken to achieve the termination of pregnancy are truly effective, viable and agile. Cuba was the first country in Latin America and the Caribbean to decriminalize abortion. After the 1959 revolution, the country brought this practice out of hiding in 1961 and created the legal basis in 1965 so that it could be implemented within the framework of the national health system.
Pregnancy-related mortality due to unsafe abortions has fallen to zero. It is legal, but it is not enshrined in law. How does it feel to have an abortion on the island? Carolina Rosales Zeiger tells it in this article. Abortion in Cuba is legal and available upon request. This reality is not common in Latin America, where there are countries where even any type of abortion becomes illegal. “Reproductive rights include equality, non-discrimination, health, reproductive autonomy, information and integrity,” defended Portal Miranda, who said that “these are issues that must be included in the next health law, which is to be adopted at the end of the year and is currently being worked on. The policy of the law has already been approved, and among the elements supported are those related to all these rights of Cuban women, including voluntary abortion. In the new legislation, the minister stressed, “We hope that this right will continue to be protected from the emergence of fundamentalism and conservative attitudes. That is why we currently imagine it as a right.
We propose it in legislation. “As a unique fact, it should be noted that Cuba is one of the few countries that defines in its legislation the cases in which abortion should not be performed, while in the majority the exceptions under which it is legally performed are established. In Cuba, abortion has been a legal and assisted right as part of free medical services since 1965. This procedure during the first trimester of pregnancy has been legal, safe, and free for just over half a century; This makes it the first country in the region to decriminalize it completely. The most significant precursor in this area dates back to 1936, when the law authorizing abortion was introduced under three specific conditions: when the fetus is the product of rape, with the risk of death of the mother and against the possibility of the occurrence of hereditary diseases. And in terms of social impact, we should think not only of women and society in general, but also, for example, of the legitimacy of voluntary abortion practices, especially for medical practice and health professionals. That is, the normalization of abortion as a legitimate practice affects a large part of Cuban society, of course women and also other specific groups that are particularly concerned by the issue, such as medical schools and health institutions in general. The Constitution of the Republic leaves little doubt on this issue. Article 43 stipulates that the State shall promote the integral development of women and their full participation in society. It also guarantees the exercise of their sexual and reproductive rights, protects them from gender-based violence in all its manifestations and spaces, and establishes institutional and legal mechanisms for this purpose. What interpretations were made in Cuba in 1979 on the practice of abortion with the consent of the current penal code? What are our sexual and reproductive rights? What legal support do Cuban women have if they decide to have an abortion? For the Cuban regime, the right of access to quality medical services in the event of abortion and the right to abortion on demand are considered great victories on the road to parity between men and women, which is part of the goal defined at the beginning of the Revolution.