Report: Nicaragua abortion ban deadly

Nicaragua’s total ban on abortions has killed at least eighty women since last November, according to a report released by Human Rights Watch. The study cites decreased health care for women over the eleven months since Nicaragua’s legislature passed the prohibition of all forms of abortion:

"Nicaraguan doctors are now afraid of going to trial or jail and losing their license," Dr. Leonel Arguello, president of the Nicaraguan Society of General Medicine, told The Associated Press. "Many are thinking that instead of taking the risk, it is better to let a woman die."

The ban was supported by then-presidential candidate Daniel Ortega in order to get backing from conservative elements during his campaign. Ortega continues to back the measure despite defending certain forms of abortion during his first term in office after the Sandinista revolution.

Sources- International Herald Tribune, Human Rights Watch, Reuters UK, The Latin Americanist

Image- BBC News (Pro-life activists march in Nicaragua circa 2006)