Feminist activists and organizations that defend women’s human rights and sexual and reproductive health pronounce on the statement issued by the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference on March 22, 2021 

The signing organizations, groups, and individuals, committed to guaranteeing women’s right to a life in dignity, their right to health and medical care, the respect for their decision regarding their bodies and motherhood, the exercise of sexual autonomy, and their reproductive autonomy understood as the right to choose how many children to have and when to have them, as well as the guarantee of a protected and planned motherhood and the right not to die during unsafe abortions, speak up against the statement of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference (CEV) requesting the Venezuelan State to stop the public and legislative discussion on the decriminalization of abortion in Venezuela:

1-. We denounce the Conference’s request to stop a debate on human rights as unconstitutional, provided that the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela establishes freedom of religion and worship, and, following this recognition, adds that no one shall invoke beliefs or religious grounds to evade compliance with the law or to prevent someone from exercising their rights (Art. 59);

2-. Article 21 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela recognizes that all persons are equal before the law, and, in consequence, prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, religion, social condition, or any other grounds that seek to nullify or impair the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of an individual’s rights under conditions of equality. Unsafe abortion constitutes a threat to health and life that only women suffer. Therefore, the commitment to guarantee human rights without discrimination requires the State to take effective actions;

3-. As a state party to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Venezuela has international obligations regarding the guarantees of the rights of women and girls, including their sexual and reproductive rights. It is also important to recall that Article 23 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela establishes that international human rights instruments have constitutional hierarchy and preeminence over internal order.

4-. The follow-up committees for the aforementioned international conventions have made recommendations to the Venezuelan State to make the norm that criminalizes abortion in our country more flexible. The CEDAW Committee expressed on two occasions (2006 and 2014)  its concern that the criminalization of abortion in the country forces women to go for clandestine abortions, damaging their health. Also, it asked the State to guarantee post-abortion care, modify its legislation to decriminalize abortion in the case of rape, incest, a risk to the health of the mother, and risk of serious malformations of the fetus, eliminate punitive measures for women who abort, and ensure the availability of pregnancy termination services. In 2015, the ICESCR Committee asked Venezuela to review its legislation on abortion to make it compatible with the rights to life and health of women, while the Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended reviewing the legislation, especially to incorporate abortion under some circumstances, ensure the best interests of adolescents, and guarantee post-abortion care.

5-. The national and legislative discussion on the decriminalization of abortion cannot be postponed. It is also a discussion on women’s rights, where the views anchored in morality and good customs and religious fundamentalisms have no place, as they imply a very serious setback in the area of ​​human rights that threatens the secularism of the Venezuelan State.

6-. According to estimates by the Ministry of Health [1], abortion represented 10% of all maternal deaths in 2013, although the same document estimates the existence of under-registration. The criminalization of abortion does not reduce its practice; on the contrary, it increases the number of unsafe abortions that put the lives of many Venezuelan women at risk, especially those with fewer resources, in a context of serious gaps in access to sexual and reproductive health services and supplies in Venezuela. Venezuela needs a legislative framework adjusted to the advances in the recognition and guarantee of the human rights of women that have occurred at the regional level.

7-. We reject attempts to stigmatize, harass or criminalize the work of activists, human rights organizations, and women’s organizations that advocate for the right to abortion and equal marriage, and repudiate the misrepresentation of the concepts and messages used in our work in favor of equality and the promotion of human rights of all. The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders reaffirms the rights that are essential to women, including freedom of expression and opinion, freedom to peaceful assembly, freedom of association, the right to have access to financing, and the right to develop and discuss new ideas on human rights. Defenders also have the right to raise complaints about human rights policies and to have such complaints reviewed and discussed.

Finally, we demand a debate on abortion based on a human rights perspective, particularly the right to health and life, guided by ethics and scientific evidence, and free from moral and religious considerations as it should be in a secular state.

[1] https://venezuela.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/NormaOficial%20SSR%202013_1.pdf 

Signatories:

Organizations:

  • 100 % Estrógeno
  • Afrolalegas
  • Acceso a la Justicia
  • ACVI Asociación Civil Venezuela Igualitaria
  • Alianza Lambda de Venezuela Asociación Civil
  • Asociación Civil de Planificación Familiar, PLAFAM
  • Asociación Civil Mujeres en Línea
  • Asociación Civil Redes Integrales de Salud
  • Asociación de Mujeres por el Bienestar y Asistencia Recíproca, AMBAR
  • Asociación Venezolana para una Educación Sexual Alternativa, AVESA
  • Azul Positivo
  • Base Lésbica de Venezuela
  • Caleidoscopio Humano
  • Casa de la Mujer Juana Ramírez La Avanzadora
  • CASAL .Colectivos Autogestionaria Solidaridad entre el Área Latina
  • C.C. Calistenia Cultural
  • CECAVID
  • Centro de Estudios de la Mujer de la Universidad Central de Venezuela
  • Centro de Transformaciones Sociales del IVIC, CETS-IVIC
  • CERLAS, Fundación Centro para la  Reflexión y la Acción Social
  • Ciclovías Maracaibo
  • Colectivo Feminista Mujer Género Rebelde MUGER
  • Colectivo La Otra Escuela
  • Cooperativa 8 de Marzo
  • Diverlex
  • Divas de Venezuela
  • Feminismo INC
  • Femired Zulia
  • Funcamama
  • Fundación Basura Cero
  • Fundación El Zulia Recicla
  • Fundamujer
  • Hearts On Venezuela
  • Hombres por la Equidad e Igualdad en Venezuela
  • Instituto Progresista
  • Joven PRIDE
  • Laboratorio Ciudadano
  • Las Comadres Púrpuras
  • Las Yerbateras
  • LPTH, La Papelera Tiene Hambre
  • Marcha Mundial de las Mujeres
  • Mesa de Mujeres, Diversidad & EVC
  • Monitor de Femicidios Utopix.com
  • Movimiento de Mujeres de Mérida, MMM
  • Movimiento Somos
  • MUDERES
  • Mujer Tenía que Ser
  • Mujeres para el Mundo
  • Mulier
  • Musa, Mujeres y Juventud
  • Nosotras Contamos
  • Organización indígena Wainjirawa, UAIN
  • Parir con Placer
  • PAS, Participación Activa
  • Plebella
  • Poetas por el Derecho al Aborto Legal
  • ProInclusión VP
  • Proyecto Mujeres
  • Red de Colectivas La Araña Feminista
  • Red de Conocimiento Antropológico
  • Red Mérida Feminista
  • Resonalia
  • Sobrepasadas
  • Teatro 8 de marzo
  • Tinta Violeta
  • UIEG Bella Carla Jirón, Universidad de Carabobo
  • Unión Afirmativa
  • Uquira
  • Vivas Nos Queremos
  • Women Empowerment Laboratory (WELab)
  • Women Riots

Individuals:

  • Aimée Zambrano, Utopix.com
  • Alba Carosio, CEM UCV
  • América Villegas Rodríguez, Parir con Placer
  • Anais López, socióloga
  • Argelia Castillo, directiva de APUFAT
  • Beatriz Montenegro, psicoanalista
  • Belmar Franceschi, PLAFAM
  • Blanca Lema, poeta
  • Coro Ortiz Franquiz, profesora universitaria
  • Cristina Otálora, CEM-UCV
  • Daniela Inojosa, Tinta Violeta
  • Deyanira Romero, trabajadora universitaria
  • Diana Ovalles, periodista
  • Doris Acevedo, MUSA
  • Estefanía Mendoza, Mulier
  • Fanny Cubillán, Redes Integrales
  • Gioconda Espina, psicoanalista y CEM-UCV
  • Grisel Mercadante, El Zulia Recicla
  • Hailed Sánchez, Col. Feminista Mujer
  • Hisvet Fernández, Cecavid
  • Karina Chacón, Tinta Violeta
  • Keta Stephany, directiva de la FAPUV
  • Indhira Rodríguez, Araña Feminista
  • Ingrid Barón, Base Lésbica de Venezuela
  • Iris Martín, socióloga
  • Isabel Zerpa, CEM- UCV
  • Jau Ramírez, Somos
  • José Luis Fernández-Shaw, sociólogo
  • Juanita Delgado, jubilada del Banco de la Mujer
  • Lali Armengol, Teatro 8 de Marzo
  • Lena Espina, jubilada del Banco de la Mujer
  • Liliana Buitrago, Colectivo Feminista Mujer
  • Luisa Kislinger, activista de los derechos de las mujeres
  • Luisa Rodríguez Táriba, Funcamama
  • Magally Huggins, psicóloga y criminóloga feminista
  • Magdymar León, psicóloga clínica feminista
  • Malu Valerio, Sobrepasadas
  • Mar Lugo, Afrolegas
  • María Antonieta Izaguirre, psicoanalista
  • María Riera, cantante lírica
  • Maritza Roquett, PAS
  • Maritza Sanabria, Colectivo Feminista MUGER
  • Masaya Llavaneras, economista
  • Mitzy Flores, Mesa de Mujeres
  • Nury Pernía, AMBAR
  • Ofelia Álvarez, Fundamujer
  • Orlanis Barreto, Tinta Violeta
  • Ruth López, Muderes
  • Sabrina Barrego, Chuncanxs
  • Sol Hernández, Poetas por el Derecho al Aborto Legal
  • Tania Espina, psicóloga
  • Tamara Adrián, Diverlex y ProInclusión VP
  • Tatiana Rojas, feminista
  • Venus Faddoul, 100% Estrógeno
  • Verónica Mesa, Mulier
  • Yoseglis Cabrera, Calistenia Cultural

Translated by José Rafael Medina