Honduras: “Morning-after pill” for rape victims

Honduras will allow the “morning-after pill” for rape victims after more than a decade of total restrictions.

The Central American country’s health minister announced on Monday, October 31, even though a total ban on abortion remains in place.

The strictly Catholic República de Honduras introduced an outright ban on the use and sale of the morning-after pill in 2009 but had hinted for several years that it would soften its stance in extreme cases.

Honduras is the only country in Latin America where the “Pastilla del Día Después” (“morning-after pill”) is banned outright and punishes women who have abortions with up to six years in prison – including in cases of rape or incest.

“We will make the pill available to rape victims because it is not a contraceptive method,” Health Minister Jose Matheu affirmed Monday night at an event with women’s organizations.

“We are now waiting for it to be released by the regulatory body.” How health authorities will verify rape allegations or distribute the pill remains unclear.

Feminist organizations complain that the latest policy decision does not go nearly far enough to combat unwanted pregnancies, especially in a country with the second-highest teenage pregnancy rate in Latin America, according to the United Nations.

“This announcement is insufficient,” said Maria Elena Mendez, director of the Honduran Center for Women’s Rights.

“Other girls who become pregnant are discriminated against and can’t work or study, falling into a cycle of marginalization and misery.”

About 50,000 to 80,000 abortions “on the street” take place in Honduras each year, local reproductive rights groups estimated in 2019.

With information from Latina Press