Uruguay votes to decriminalize abortion despite veto threat

[Judi Lynn]

Uruguay votes to decriminalize abortion despite veto threat
29 mins ago

MONTEVIDEO (AFP) – Uruguay's legislature Tuesday voted to decriminalize abortion despite a promise from President Tabare Vazquez to veto the measure.

The text passed the Senate with 17 of 30 votes, and will be forwarded to the president for his signature or veto in the coming hours, according to a leading senator and physician, Monica Xavier.

Approved last week by the lower House of Deputies, the bill would allow a woman to "decide to end her pregnancy in the first 12 weeks of gestation," because of economic, family or age hardship.

In addition, abortion would be legal for health, deformation or risk to the mother's life.

Xavier called the move a "milestone" and a "big step forward" for women in Uruguay, where every form of abortion has been illegal for 70 years.

More:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081111/hl_afp/uruguayabortion_081111194116

[Judi Lynn]

1. Uruguay Senate votes to allow abortion in first trimester

4 hours, 50 minutes ago
Uruguay Senate votes to allow abortion in first trimester

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) -- Uruguay's Senate voted Tuesday to allow abortion during the first trimester, a rare step in a Latin American nation.

President Tabare Vasquez has said he will veto the measure.

Sen. Monica Javier of the governing Socialist Party said 17 of the 30 senators present voted for the bill, which earlier passed the lower house of Congress on a 49-48 vote.

The country's Roman Catholic Church has crusaded against the measure, which would make Uruguay only the second country in South America, along with English-speaking Guyana, to allow abortion without restriction in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

The nation's bishops issued a statement Saturday saying that any lawmakers voting for the measure would be automatically excommunicated.

More:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/11/11/uruguay.abortion.ap/index.html