WASHINGTON - Rep. Chris Smith says he hopes that he played a small part in stopping Uruguay from becoming the first Latin American nation besides Cuba to legalize abortion. Critics say he was meddling in the affairs of another country. Smith, R-N.J., Joseph Pitts, R-Pa., and four other anti-abortion House Republicans on April 30 sent letters to Uruguay's senators urging them not to "make the same costly mistake" America made 31 years ago and "legalize the violent murder of unborn children."
On May 5, the Uruguayan Senate rejected, by 17-13, the bill that, in addition to making abortion legal for women in the first trimester of pregnancy, would have promoted sex education, contraceptive distribution and maternal health care services. The bill had already passed Uruguay's House of Representatives.
. . .
"The letter was a flagrant involvement in another country's constitutional issues," said Angeles Cabria, senior program officer for Latin America at the International Women's Health Coalition. She cited figures showing that 63 percent of Uruguayans supported the legislation, and said the American lawmakers were "basically telling these senators to go against the will of their country."
. . .
But Rep. Lois Slaughter, D-N.Y., an abortion rights leader, said that in her 18 years in Congress she has never received a letter from a foreign lawmaker telling her how to vote on an issue. She said what also bothered her was the suggestion, because America wields so much power around the world, that "if you don't do this you'll be sorry."
http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/8640806.htm
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