One thing the United States has got right!

Yesterday for class we had a very interesting lecture on a topic that I had requested; women´s sexuality and reproductive rights. I have some workshops coming up in the schools on contraceptives, STI´s, and pregnancy in adolscents and from what I gather attitudes here in Ecuador are pretty different, so I wanted to deepen my understanding of where things stand right now. First things first, abortion here is ILLEGAL. Women can serve up to 3-4 years in prison and doctors can get up to 6 years for performing an abortion. People rarely end up serving these sentences because there is a thriving black market that is kind of tacitly tolerated. An illegal abortion will cost you anywhere from 150$ to 1000$ with no guarentees of safety or sanitation and no recourse if you are mistreated. Obviously this is A LOT of money in Ecuador so needless to say the majority of women are forced to perform their own abortions using sharp objects and chemical cocktails. If they become infected from these homeade procedures they are afraid to seek medical attention because they are afraid the doctor will know what they were doing.

There are a few exceptions to the law. When a women´s life is threatened, when the fetus has a congenital deformity "incompatible with human life," or if a mentally retarded person is raped, an abortion may be permissable. Notice that these exceptions do not include minors or regular rape victims. So basically, a 12 year old who was raped by her uncle still has to have to the baby. WOW Ecuador, I am really impressed. In fact there is a case right now in which, after years of sexual abuse at the hands of her father, an indigenous teenager became pregnant. She tried to give herself an abortion various times but failed and ended up killing her baby when it was born. She is in jail right now. Her own father who incestuously raped her is not. WOW Ecuador, WOW.

Furthermore, women who are forced to have their children are often ostracized by society if they are unmarried or if the father of their child abandons them. Single moms are not popular. Also teenagers who try to get contraceptives are called "dirty sluts" by the pharmacists. Apparently rape within families and by partners (husbands and boyfriends) is extremely prevalent in Ecuador and thus difficult to prove. I was breifly impressed when I thought the morning after pill was available here in Ecuador, but then I found out it had been recalled and that certain daring pharmacies and clinics give out quadruple doses of other medications to create the same effect.

I also lost what little respect I had for the "leftist" president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, when I read his comments that he has never understood all this "my body, my choice" nonsense because obviously no one has the right to destroy an innocent life and he would be first in line to vote NO on legalizing abortion. This is not the first I´ve heard about Correa´s sexist anti-woman rhetoric. It´s not good enough to advocate good economic and labor policies if you don´t support the rights of half the population!

I´m glad to see that America is exporting the very best of our ideas: the evangelical movement is thriving on the coast of Ecuador and they are threatening to block the new consitution if it does not mention God and expressly prohibit gay marriage and abortion. Woohoo!

For once though, I am extremely proud to be an American woman. We have got at least one thing right - for the moment anyway, a woman has the right to choose.