Mesoamerican Tradition

Five centuries ago, before the Spanish Inquisition unexpectedly arrived and displaced them, central American rulers built huge pyramids on which to practice human sacrifices to appease angry deities. Now Ortega passes statutes to practice human sacrifices to appease angry theocrats. What's the Spanish for "Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose"?

Nicaraguan MPs passed a tough law today that bans abortions for rape victims and women who risk dying in childbirth. The tactical vote came just days ahead of the Central American republic's presidential election.

The law was approved with the support of reluctant left-wing legislators who backed it to help their party's leader, Daniel Ortega, a former Cold War foe of the United States, sweep back to power in the November 5 election.

Nicaragua's powerful Roman Catholic church and the ruling Liberal Party had promoted the law and Mr Ortega's Sandinista party supported it to avoid alienating church leaders and religious voters in the last days of a tight campaign. ...

When Mr Ortega was in power, his government reinforced a law giving women the right to terminate pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, or if three doctors stated a woman's life was at risk. ...

Hundreds of people had protested outside the National Assembly in the capital Managua yesterday, saying the law would be a death sentence for the some 400 women who suffer ectopic pregnancies in Nicaragua each year.

"They are forcing women and girls to die. They are not pro-life, they are pro-death," said protester Xiomara Luna.

(Spotted by Avedon Carol.)