Guatemala passes ‘nefarious’ anti-human-rights laws

Campaigners are calling the country’s decision to triple jail sentences for abortions and issue an explicit ban on same-sex marriage ‘hate-fuelled policies’ that foment discrimination.

Guatemalan lawmakers have passed a ‘nefarious’ new bill that punishes abortion with up to 25 years in prison, legalises homophobia, and explicitly prohibits same-sex marriage.

It will additionally outlaw the teaching of both sexual diversity and gender ideology in schools, stipulating that no orientations other than heterosexuality are ‘normal.’

Proposed by the ViVa Party and known as the ‘Law for Life and Family,’ campaigners have warned that the ‘hate-fuelled policies’ will foster miseducation, stigma, and intolerance, while promoting the persecution of LGBTIQ+ and non-binary people.

At least 32 LGBTIQ+ people were murdered in Guatemala last year as a result of their sexual orientation or gender identity, according to the National Observatory of LGBTIQ+ Rights, with another nine killings reported so far in 2022.

The country has also suffered from alarming levels of pregnancies among girls and adolescents; only last year, 2,041 girls aged 14 and under gave birth, and the country registered over 65,000 pregnancies in citizens aged between 10 and 19.

‘Guatemala already suffers from shocking levels of violence against women, girls and LGBTIQ+ people,’ says human rights lawyer, Erika Guevara Rosas.

‘By criminalising miscarriages, prohibiting schools from teaching students about anything that could deviate a child’s identity according to their birth gender, and sanctioning discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, Guatemala’s Congress is legalising institutionalisd violence against women, girls and the LGBTIQ+ community.’

The measure, which was unexpectedly approved on International Women’s Day by an overwhelming majority (just eight lawmakers out of 160 voted against it), would impose the harshest penalties for terminating pregnancies of almost any countries in Latin America.

Namely a sentence of up to 12 years for doctors performing the procedure, ten for women who obtain it, three for those ‘attempting’ to, and even jail time for anyone deemed ‘culpable’ for miscarriage.

It actively resists a recent trend throughout the region towards broadening access to abortion, which has seen Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia revisit their outdated policies.