Limited access to contraceptives
Current law also prohibits the use, sale, distribution and purchase of emergency contraception, with the same prison sentences as abortion and under almost the same circumstances. It is the only country in Latin America that has this ban.
“The lack of accessibility to contraception, particularly in rural areas, together with the prohibition of emergency contraception, contributes to a high rate of forced pregnancies, including adolescent pregnancies,” say UN Human Rights experts in a release.
A small advance occurred only in December 2022, when the Honduran government included the Emergency Contraceptive Pill (PAE) within the Protocol for comprehensive care for victims and survivors of sexual violence.
The consequences of the bans
The prohibition of abortion and emergency contraception increase maternal mortality and morbidity rates, due to the fact that abortions are performed under risky conditions, says the UN. In Honduras, between 51,000 and 82,000 clandestine abortions are performed per year.
Research shows that in countries where abortion is criminalized, deaths from unsafe abortions are more likely to be misattributed to other causes, as patients do not report what happened and doctors cannot always tell.