Congressional Decree 17-73 altered the penal code to allow abortion in cases in which the pregnant woman's life is endangered in September 1973.
Articles 133 to 140 in Guatemala's Constitution detail the imprisonment sentences for women and doctors who seek or provide abortion care.
Some factors that affect the sentencing are: whether the involved parties had knowledge of pregnancy, if there was consent of the woman and if violence contributed to the abortion.
[2] The government has attempted to lower the mortality rates of mothers and infants from induced abortions by advocating for the use of contraception as a preventive measure for an unwanted pregnancy.
[3] However, unmet need for contraception among women in this age range rose from 19% to 28% from 1987 to 2002,[3] showing that the reproductive health services in Guatemala are insufficient to help the entire population.
[3] On 15 March 2022, Congress decided not to proceed with a law that would have increased penalties for abortion (as well as prohibiting same-sex marriage and restricting speech about sexual topics in schools).
[4] Revisiting the abortion law and access to health clinics and contraception in Guatemala can be difficult, given the prominence of Catholicism in the country.
If driven for reasons linked intimately to her state that produce undoubted psychic disturbance, the penalty shall be imprisonment of six months to two years".
This article also addresses the nature of the abortion, stating that if "violence, threat, or deceit has been employed, the penalty shall be imprisonment of four to eight years".
Nationally, the unintended pregnancy rate is around 66 per 1,000 women, meaning that about half of all unintended pregnancies result in a woman attempting an induced abortion[3] On February 24, 2017, a vessel docked in port of Puerto Quetzal, run by a group called Women on Waves, to provide abortion pills in international waters.
The vessel, though it claimed it had permit rights to dock in Guatemala, was forced to leave by the Guatemalan army under orders from President Jimmy Morales and women were kept from boarding.