Pro-Choice vs. Pro-Life Attitudes
in Puerto Rico

A major criticism of contemporary legal systems comes from the critique of their proclaimed objectivism, namely, the belief that the institutionalized system of statutes and case precedents as they exist forms a rational and justifiable scheme of human behavior.  The cynicism about objectivism is undoubtedly fostered by centuries of historical instances that so many laws were conceived and passed out of greed, hatred, bigotry, pettiness and ignorance, and whose insidious nature became obvious in hindsight but were nevertheless accepted and enforced in their day.  Legislation is necessarily created by men, who represent special interests (e.g. regional, racial, religious, economic, ethnic, linguistic, etc) and worldviews that are restricted by their time and place, and what passes as law is merely one set of compromise among many other possible alternate ways, some better and some worse, of imagining and organizing our governments, economies, social and personal lives.

One of the most controversial social issues today is the matter of abortion rights.  In this note, we will look at the situation of this issue in Puerto Rico.  According to the Abortion and Reproductive Rights in Puerto Rico information from the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League Foundation, the current relevant statue is as follows:

Any person who provides, administers, or prescribes any drug or substance or uses any other means with the intent to cause an abortion, or who induces, advises, or assists in an abortion, will be imprisoned for three years, unless the procedure is necessary to preserve the woman's health or life. Tit. 33, § 4010 (1983). 

Now another major criticism of contemporary legal systems is through the critique of their apparent formalism, namely, the belief in the possibility of resolving  legal matters successfully and fairly through a reasoned analysis and presentation of the institutionally prescribed materials according to the institutionalized rules (e.g. legal statutes, case precedents, rules of evidence, etc).  Thus, one can narrowly argue about the interpretation of the specific wording of a statute of law, while cynically ignoring the underlying intent and purpose.  For example, in reading the statute above, the meaning of the "the woman's health of life" is not clearly defined.  Who decides when a woman's life is in danger?  What objective criteria are there?  Will this be one so-called expert witness's subjective opinion versus another's?  Will it be left up to twelve medically untrained common citizens to decide?  The interpretation of this wording has been supposedly clarified later:

A Puerto Rico court has ruled that this provision is constitutional, finding that the term "health" permits any abortion that is necessary for the woman's physical or mental health, which is defined broadly to include "the most ample notions of physical, mental and socio-emotional well-being." People v. Annul Bez, 114 P.R. Offic. Trans. 638 (1983), citing People v. Duarte Mendoza, 109 P.R. Offic. Trans. 797 (1980). Any woman who solicits or submits to any means for the purpose of procuring an abortion not necessary to preserve her health or life will be imprisoned for two to five years. Tit. 33, § 4011 (1983). 

"The most ample notions of physical, mental and socio-emotional well-being?"  With due respect, this is as clear as mud.

In a democracy, legislation is enacted by elected officials who are sensitive (or at least must pretend that they are) to political opinions.  Similarly, laws are enforced by officials who are either directly elected or indirectly appointed by elected officials.  Therefore, legislation is highly sensitive to the prevailing political climate with respect to an issue.  So what is the prevailing climate with respect to abortion rights in Puerto Rico?  We will present some survey results from the TGI Puerto Rico study, a survey of 2,055 individuals aged 12 or more, who were interviewed between February and April, 1999.  The relevant survey question is the statement, "I am more pro-life than pro-choice."  The survey results are shown below separately by sex, age and marital status.  Please note that the horizontal percentages do not add up to 100% as we have not shown either the 'no opinions' or 'refuse to answer.'

% Agreement / Disagreement with the statement "I am more pro-life than pro-choice"

Sex / Age-Martial Status % Completely Agree % Somewhat Agree % Somewhat Disagree % Completely Disagree
Men
     Total

     12-17
     18-24
     25-34
     35-49
     50-54
     55-64
     65+

     Single
     Married 
34%

21%
28%
37%
36%
40%
40%
38%

27%
36%
23%

24%
33%
20%
22%
20%
23%
17%

22%
25%
4%

7%
1%
6%
3%
9%
6%
4%

6%
4%
3%

3%
2%
3%
1%
1%
5%
3%

3%
3%
Women
     Total

     12-17
     18-24
     25-34
     35-49
     50-54
     55-64
     65+

     Single
     Married 
34%

33%
24%
31%
37%
34%
34%
43%

29%
35%
20%

13%
28%
21%
21%
20%
17%
14%

18%
21%
5%

4%
5%
8%
4%
5%
3%
5%

5%
5%
3%

3%
3%
2%
3%
2%
2%
2%

2%
3%

(source: TGI Puerto Rico, MediaFax Inc)

The prevailing attitude in Puerto Rico is definitely more pro-life than pro-choice, irrespective of age, sex and marital status.

However, we must be very careful about the interpretation of these responses.  There is a vast disjuncture between the private and the public spheres of life.  In an abstract sense (such as that implied by the statement "I am more pro-life than pro-choice"), one may feel that it is both ethically as well as socially unacceptable to be against life itself.  However, if and when a situation should arrive in one's own personal life, then many people may expect reproductive rights to be available because their circumstances are unique and understandable.  Thus, in Latin America, over 90% of the population may identify themselves as Catholic but perhaps two-thirds of the population have practiced some form of family planning in disregard of church teachings and apparently without experiencing cognitive dissonance.

The matter of abortion rights is a complicated issue which obviously cannot be determined by the results from a single survey question.  We have included a number of links that present different viewpoints in the WWW references below.

WWW REFERENCES

PRINT REFERENCES

(posted by Roland Soong on 1/22/00)

(Return to Zona Latina's Home Page)