Résumé : Positions regarding abortion in penal law range between the extremes of granting women an absolute right to decide whether to seek abortion, and regarding abortion as equivalent to murder. The Peruvian penal code under most circumstances calls for a maximum penalty of two years in prison for the woman and the practitioner. The penal code of 1991 called for reduced sentences in cases of rape or congenital malformations. Criminal law is usually regarded as the last resort of the state after the family, education, psychology, or religion have failed to assure desired behavior or discourage undesired behavior. Only the social interests of maximum priority in a society should be protected by criminal law. In the case of abortion, the penal code has not been used as the last resort. Criminalization is the first and only solution for eradicating abortion. But since laws were passed to punish abortion in Peru, their number has consistently increased along with the size of the population. The prison terms specified in the penal code are largely symbolic, but a series of other measures in addition to the stigma and inconvenience of a criminal charge also constitute sanctions. Abortion is not desirable as a method of population control. In principal, however, criminal law can contribute nothing to the problem. Abortion should be decriminalized, which does not mean that the state should promote abortion. Considering abortion a crime generates a series of grave indirect costs. The principal of equality is violated when women with resources are able to secure medically safe abortions, legal or not, but poor women are unable to do so. The more compelling argument for decriminalization is the significant contribution of unsafe abortion to maternal mortality.
Notes : Español/espagnol/Spanish, nbsp;Abstract : Popline (http://db.jhuccp.org/popinform/basic.html) - PIP 159733