Paraguay
ABORTION POLICY
Grounds on which abortion is permitted:
To save the life of the woman
To preserve physical health
To preserve mental health
Rape or incest
Foetal impairment
Economic or social reasons
Available on request
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
Additional requirements:
Information is not readily available.
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CONTEXT
Government view on fertility level:
Too high
Government intervention concerning fertility level:
No intervention
Government policy on contraceptive use:
Direct support provided
Percentage of currently married women using
modern contraception (aged 15-44, 1998):
49*
Total fertility rate (1995-2000):
4.2
Age-specific fertility rate (per 1,000 women aged 15-19, 1995-2000):
76
Government has expressed particular concern about:
Morbidity and mortality resulting from induced abortion
Complications of childbearing and childbirth
Yes
Yes
Maternal mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births, 1995):
National
South America
190
260
Female life expectancy at birth (1995-2000):
72.0
* Preliminary or provisional.
Source: Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the
United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references.
29
Paraguay
BACKGROUND
The Paraguayan Penal Code (Law No. 1160/97) of 26 November 1997 in general prohibits the
performance of abortions. Anyone who performs an abortion, including a woman who causes her own abortion
or consents to it, is subject to fifteen to thirty months’ imprisonment. If the abortion is performed without the
consent of the woman, the penalty is increased to two to five years’ imprisonment. If the abortion results in the
death of the woman, the penalty is increased to four to six years’ imprisonment if the woman consented and to
five to ten years’ imprisonment if she did not consent. Penalties are increased by 50 per cent if the abortion is
performed by the husband of the woman or by a member of a health profession. A woman who causes her own
abortion to preserve her honour is subject to six to twelve months’ imprisonment, and the penalties imposed on
a person who performs an illegal abortion are decreased by one half if the abortion is performed to preserve the
honour of that person’ spouse, daughter, or sister.
Nonetheless, the Penal Code explicitly allows an abortion to be performed to save the life of a woman. It
provides that a member of the health professions shall be exempt from punishment if he or she justifies having
indirectly caused an abortion for the purpose of saving the life of a woman endangered by pregnancy or
childbirth. Moreover, article 109 of the Code provides that a person who indirectly causes the death of a foetus
during acts relating to childbirth does not act illegally if, taking into consideration the knowledge and
experiences of the medical profession, this is necessary and inevitable to prevent serious danger to the life or
health of the mother.
Clandestine abortion is common in Paraguay. It is estimated that approximately 26,000 illegal abortions
are performed annually and that 35 per cent of Paraguayan women have had at least one abortion. Illegal
abortion, together with a lack of adequate prenatal and obstetric care, has contributed to a high maternal
mortality rate. The maternal mortality ratio has, however, been declining, from 300 deaths per 100,000 live
births in 1986 to the most recent 1995 government estimate of 190 deaths per 100,000 live births. Surveys in
1979 and 1984 estimated the abortion rate at around 145 abortions per 1,000 pregnancies.
Family planning services were illegal or discouraged for decades in Paraguay but started expanding in the
late 1980s, and the right to family planning was guaranteed under the 1992 Constitution of Paraguay. The
expansion of family planning services occurred primarily through the efforts of the national family planning
association, the Centro Paraguayo de Estudios de Población (CEPEP), founded in 1966, which provides
subsidized family planning services and operates clinics that offer gynaecological services, prenatal and
postnatal care, and contraceptives. The association sponsors campaigns to involve rural community leaders in
family planning and provides training to physicians in remote frontier regions. In an effort to increase public
knowledge and to improve the image of family planning, CEPEP disseminates information in magazines and
on radio and television programmes.
The use of modern contraceptives has increased steadily from an estimated 35 per cent in 1990 to 41 per
cent in 1995/1996 and a provisional 49 per cent in 1998. The 1990 Demographic and Health Survey found that
93 per cent of women knew of at least one modern family planning method. The most frequently used
contraceptive methods were the pill (14 per cent), female sterilization (7 per cent), the intrauterine device (6
per cent) and contraceptive injections (5 per cent). Thirteen per cent used a traditional method.
The Government of Paraguay considers the current rates of population growth and fertility (estimated at
4.2 children per woman in 1995-2000) to be too high but pursues a general policy of non-intervention on
Source: Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the
United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references.
30
Paraguay
fertility levels. The public sector has provided natural family planning services as a health measure and as part
of maternal and child health care, while other modern methods of contraception are available on the
commercial market. In 1988, the Government decided to expand the provision of family planning to include
other methods. Although there are no specific legal provisions in regard to sterilization, it is believed that the
law prohibiting corporal injury applies.
The Government has formulated policies to improve population welfare through improved health services
and family planning activities. It has implemented programmes to promote responsible parenthood and to
improve the provision of family planning services as an integral part of maternal and child health (MCH) care,
primarily to promote child spacing and maternal health. Family life education has been introduced into the
school curricula, and information, education and communication programmes have been implemented. In
1994, following the International Conference on Population and Development, the Government established a
National Council for Reproductive Health, responsible for formulating a national reproductive health plan.
Source: Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the
United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references.
31