Nicaragua criminalised abortion in all circumstances on 9 July 2008. One year on, Amnesty International has concerns about the human rights violations resulting from the new penal code.

Women and girls whose pregnancies are a result of rape, or whose pregnancies put their lives or health at grave risk, now have to continue with the pregnancy, or risk their lives, health and freedom by seeking an illegal abortion.

Any health professional who provides a patient with an abortion to save her life or health - or who inadvertently causes injury to the foetus while treating a woman for an unrelated condition - now faces criminal prosecution and the loss of his or her license to practice medicine.

We call on the Nicaraguan government to: * remove criminal penalties for women, girls and health professionals in all circumstances * reform legislation so that therapeutic abortion is legal in cases of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest and in circumstances where continuation of pregnancy would put at risk the health or life of the woman or girl.

Read Amnesty's new report, July 2009:

The Total Abortion Ban in Nicaragua: Women's lives and health endangered, medical professionals criminalized [PDF= 1.3MB]