Guatemala’s president to veto controversial anti-abortion law

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Guatemala’s conservative President Alejandro Giammattei said Thursday he would veto a controversial anti-abortion and minority bill passed last Tuesday by the Central American country’s Congress his party holds the legislative majority.

In a short video released by the presidency, Giammattei pointed out that the law recently approved by the legislative body “violates two conventions to which Guatemala is a signatory” and “has technical flaws in its wording,” but “most worryingly, it violates the political constitution of the republic.”

For this reason, the President announced that he had called the President of Congress, Shirley Rivera, to ask her to withdraw the law; otherwise, it would be vetoed by the President himself and would not go into effect.

The controversial law, passed Tuesday night by the Guatemalan Congress, toughens prison sentences for abortions in the Central American country and aims to combat “minorities” that are “incompatible with Christian morality.”

The Protection of Life and Family Law was approved with 102 votes from deputies allied with the Vamos bench, which brought Giammattei into government in the 2019 elections.

Eight deputies voted against the law, the majority (6) of the opposition group Semilla emerged from the 2015 anti-corruption campaign. Another 50 did not vote in parliament to approve the new law.

Initiative 5272, initially introduced in 2017 by the conservative Viva party and approved Tuesday, increases prison sentences for women who have abortions. Initially set at 1 to 3 years in prison, they have now been amended with sentences of up to 5 years in prison as a minimum and up to 50 years in some cases.

It also bans teaching about sexual diversity in educational institutions.