Nicaragua Abortion Law Puts Pregnant Cancer Victim at Risk, Says Amnesty International

23 Feb.2010 at 10:30 PM


Washington : Amnesty International today called on the Nicaraguan authorities to provide cancer treatment to a pregnant woman that is currently being withheld because of a law that bans abortion in all circumstances.

Amalia (not her real name), 27, is 10-weeks pregnant and was diagnosed on February 2 with cancer, which may have already spread to her brain, lungs and breasts.

The Nicaraguan authorities are impeding doctors from providing cancer treatment to her while she is pregnant because medical staff could face prosecution if they cause harm to the fetus during her treatment, even if the harm is caused unintentionally.

“It is shocking that Nicaragua would deny a cancer patient potentially lifesaving treatment because she is pregnant,” said Esther Major, Central America researcher at Amnesty International.

“Amalia’s situation reveals the impact of this law and demonstrates the urgent need to repeal this draconian ban which prevents the delivery of timely care and impedes sound medical judgment,” said Major. “Each day is critical for Amalia’s chances of survival and the Nicaraguan authorities must take immediate steps to provide her the full range of health care appropriate to treat her cancer.”

Doctors treating Amalia have refused to use radiotherapy and chemotherapy because they fear prosecution.

Amalia is also the sole caregiver of her 10-year-old daughter. In December 2009, Amalia sought treatment in a local clinic for breathing problems, fever, nausea and fainting. She was referred to a hospital for tests, where she has been hospitalized since February 2. Her doctors said she required urgent chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment but have not initiated any of these treatments because of fear of unintentional harm to the fetus.

“Nicaragua’s ban of therapeutic abortions is a human rights scandal that ridicules medical science and turns the law into a weapon against the provision of essential medical care to pregnant women and girls,” said Major.

In 2006, prior to the ban on abortion introduced,  21 Nicaraguan medical associations from across the spectrum of medical disciplines issued a joint public statement against the proposed total ban on abortion, with an explicit warning that health professionals’ ability to provide health care and practice their profession would be limited if the prohibition was passed.

On February 18, Nicaraguan NGOs and the largest professional gynecological association in Nicaragua asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to request "special measures," which would require the government to fulfill its legal obligations to protect Amalia’s right to life and health and ensure she is immediately provided with treatment which could save, or at least prolong, her life.

“Nicaragua's total ban on abortion is unlawful and the Nicaraguan government has also ignored the calls for the law criminalizing abortion to be repealed by four United Nations expert treaty bodies, including the Committee Against Torture", said Major

Two weeks ago, 11 member states of the United Nations called on Nicaragua to amend its laws on abortion, due to the rise in maternal deaths and rape victims who are being compelled to carry pregnancies to term since the laws’ introduction.

"A legal challenge to the constitutional basis for the law has also been before the constitutional section of the Supreme Court for over a year,” said Major.

“Amnesty International is appalled at the Nicaraguan government's refusal to respond to the pleas to change this cruel law.”


For a copy of Amnesty International’s report on the consequences of the full ban on abortion in Nicaragua, please see: http://www.amnesty.org/library/info/AMR43/001/2009/en         
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 2.2 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied. 

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Deputy Secretary Discusses U.S.-Australia Alliance & Cyber Security

  
U.S. officials are "very satisfied" with the contributions Australia is making in Afghanistan and will not ask the nation for more troops in the country According to a report by Jim Garamone of American Forces Press Service on Feb. 13, 2010 from Sydney Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III said during an interview.

Lynn is visiting Australia to meet with government, civic and business leaders about expanding the U.S.–Australia alliance to face new threats.         Australia has 1,550 troops committed to the battle in Afghanistan – mostly in Oruzgan province in Regional Command South. The province is thought to be the birthplace of Taliban leader Mullah Omar. Australia has lost 11 service members in the fighting in Afghanistan.       Even though a surge of new troops is moving into Afghanistan, the United States has no intention of asking Australia for more forces, the deputy secretary told Annabel McGilvray of the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.      He said the alliance with Australia is critical to the United States. President Barack Obama's planned visit to Australia next month points to the significance of the alliance to the United States and will serve to re-affirm America's commitment to it, the deputy secretary added. Lynn praised the adaptability of the U.S.-Australia alliance.     "We've fought together side by side in all of the major wars in the last century, and now we're fighting side by side in Afghanistan in a very different war, but a very important one," Lynn said. "One of the reasons I'm here this week is to talk about collaboration in a new area – cyber-security – where we have a common understanding of the threats and can work together to meet those threats."      Lynn noted that the Internet itself is only 20 years old, and that governments around the world still are trying to develop appropriate doctrines. In the United States, these doctrines proceed on at least three levels, he said.     "We need at the individual user level good hygiene – you just need to download all of the appropriate patches and make sure your security is up to speed," he explained. "You also need a second layer which is a string of firewalls and intrusion-detection devices. And then you need a layer that I call more active defenses, which is an ability for governments to understand and then counter the kinds of more malicious threats that might be out there against both government and critical private-sector computers."    In January, Google officials came forward about sophisticated cyber attacks aimed at the firm's source code and Gmail accounts of Chinese human-rights activists around the world. While Google officials couldn't say the Chinese government was behind the attacks, they did say other American firms were the victims of such attacks in the past.   "One of the things about that threat is people have often focused on the immediate damage that a cyber attack or intrusion might do – that it might bring down a power grid or do damage to a financial network or something like that," Lynn said. "And those are things we need to worry about. But the Google threat is much more the theft of intellectual property.   "The U.S. and Australian economies thrive on the strength of the kinds of intellectual developments our societies have made," he continued, "and we need to be able to protect those from theft on the Internet and elsewhere. That's one of the new avenues that the cyber threat poses." Governments need to collaborate against the threat, Lynn said, because the Internet knows no national boundaries, and what is a threat against Google in the United States now could be threat to international companies elsewhere within nanoseconds. "As we see the kinds of threats and develop the means to address them, we can share that warning, we can share technology, we can share approaches," Lynn said. "We need a broad set of collaborative international agreements to address the nature of that threat." The idea is moving forward. Last year, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia signed an agreement of principle on the cyber threat, and the countries are looking to expand the collaboration. The U.S.-Australian alliance began more than 100 years ago, and now it needs to move into more current areas – Afghanistan, cybersecurity and counterpiracy, Lynn said, adding that U.S. and Australian leaders must be open to new ideas and practices for the future.

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