Guatemala hikesabortion penalty, bans same-sex marriage

Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei on Wednesday celebrated a bill that increases prison sentences for women who have abortions and targets the LGBTQ community.Giammattei backed the bill approved by lawmakers late Tuesday, during International Women's Day.The new legislation passed with 101 votes in favor and eight against. Fifty-one lawmakers were not present.Guatemalan women convicted of terminating their pregnancies can now face sentences up to ten years that before were a maximum of three.The Congress imposed even heavier penalties for doctors and others who assist women in ending pregnancies.Abortions are legal only when the life of the mother is at risk.Lawmakers backing the legislation said the law was necessary because "minority groups" are against "Christian morality."The Guatemala legislation also explicitly prohibited same-sex marriage, which was already effectively illegal, and banned schools from teaching anything that could "deviate (a child's) identity according to their birth gender.