The Chamber of Deputies declared the bill to be urgent and approved the legislation that modifies the Penal Code in two consecutive readings, after some 11 years of debates, consultations and public hearings. The legislation, which has 354 articles, was approved by 122 votes in favor and three against: Pelegrin Castillo, Juan Hubieres and Guadalupe Valdez. It was debated for six hours and 24 deputies took part. Outside of the Congress there were protests by groups that defended the rights of women.
The two most controversial sections of the Code were abortions and the penalties for defamation and libel. Also, some of the main points according to the Diario Libre were: the maximum sentence was increased from 30 to 40 years, property invasions and occupations are penalized, the sentence for femicide (or “gendercide”) will be 40 years, kidnapping will have sentences of between 20 and 30 years, there are new sentences of between 4 and 10 years for adults who use minors to commit crimes. The amendments now punish livestock stealing and the use of sulfuric acid (acido del diablo).
The deputies eliminated the prison sentences in the Penal Code for cases of offenses of defamation and public insults against a person or entity that affects something in his honor or consideration, good name, image, dignity and family integrity, and punishes these offenses with fines of seven or 10 minimum wages and libel with fines from four to six salaries. In addition, these offenses will be considered to be private penal actions.
The deputies kept the penalization of abortion and established that the act of causing or cooperating in the interruption of a woman’s pregnancy by means of comestibles, concoctions, medicines or any kind of treatment, even when the woman consents, will be punished by a sentence of between two and three years in prison. The doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other medical professionals, as well as the midwives, who help to cause an abortion, will be punished with sentences of four to 10 years in prison.