Guatemala’s move to triple jail sentences for abortions and ban same-sex marriage constitutes ‘vile attack’

Bill fosters ‘miseducation, stigma, intolerance and homophobia, fuelling the persecution of LGBT+ and non-binary people,’ says campaigner

Women at a protest on International Women’s Day in Guatemala City in 2022 (AP)

Guatemala’s decision to triple jail sentences for abortions and issue an explicit ban on same-sex marriage are “hate-fuelled policies” that constitute a “vile attack” on the most vulnerable people in the country, campaigners have said.

New legislation means women in the Central American country can now face sentences of up to 10 years in prison for terminating a pregnancy, whereas the previous maximum sentence was three years.

Measures in the bill, which passed by a landslide last Tuesday – International Women’s Day – also block schools from teaching about sexual diversity, barring material that could “deviate [a child’s] identity according to their birth gender”.