Uruguay legalises abortions

The Uruguayan Senate voted 17-14 on Wednesday to legalize all first trimester abortions in a groundbreaking step in Latin America.

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Uruguay's measure will decriminalize the procedure but require women to justify themselves before a panel of experts and wait five days before confirming they want to go ahead. It also decriminalizes late-term abortions when the mother's life is at risk or the fetus is deformed. Rape victims would be able to get legal abortions through 14 weeks of pregnancy.

Judges would no longer be involved when adults seek the procedure, and while minors would need court approval, they need not get permission beforehand from their parents.

It's not the best law, "and not the solution we wanted, but it's an advance," said Sen. Luis Gallo, a supporter and member of the ruling Broad Front coalition. Women who decide to get abortions won't be penalized if they follow the rules, and thus avoid the "humiliating secrecy" of illegal abortions," he argued.

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