Children’s rights vs. cells

The contradictions in this colony are immense. Not only do the people face the imperial power of the United States, but they are also held hostage by the internal squabbles of a local administration that won the elections with less than 40% of the vote. In other words, 60% voted against them, which anywhere else in the world would be a majority. Represented by the New Progressive Party, which is anything but progressive, these bastions of the right wing, both in the executive and legislative branches, maintain a dangerous rivalry, competing to see who is most irrelevant to the well-being of the people and who can advance the most detrimental legislative projects for the population.

Moreover, they compete to see who is the most supposedly “religious.” But not the religion based on working for the well-being of others, on doing good without regard for who it benefits, but rather on doctrines that criminalize women and youth.

These days, a law and a bill have been passed in the Senate that classify the killing of an unborn child as murder. Abortion is legal in this country, but now, from the highest levels of government, there is an attempt to criminalize it. Terms like “unborn” and “conceived but unborn human being.” in practice, grant more rights to two cells that unite, since these terms include any stage of gestation. Thus, the egg and sperm have more rights as legal persons than children who have already been born. Debates, statements, and media interviews attempt to justify the unjustifiable.

In a country where our children and youth have been denied so much by closing schools and eliminating programs that enhance human well-being, such as the arts and music; where decent housing is unaffordable and the cost of living has skyrocketed to the point that aid for those without adequate income isn’t even enough for basic necessities; where access to health care is minimal; where our children disappear, are murdered, and are recruited by drug cartels; where femicides and domestic violence are on the rise. But that’s not important to the government. No laws are passed, no programs are developed for that. For them, it’s easier to talk about the rights of cells than the rights of the living being once it’s born.

From Puerto Rico in struggle, with Radio Clarín of Colombia, Berta Joubert-Ceci