Reading about Nicaragua's recent decision to ban all abortions with no exceptions makes me want to pull back from my former stance that all people should be respected for their views on the abortion issue. I have a hard time fathoming that all pro-lifers would be willing to sentence their own mothers or sisters to 30 years of imprisonment for making a personal decision that might have been in the best interest of the woman's own health or the future of the child.

Nicaragua's ban, which passed 52 to 0, was a clear bid to curry support from the Catholic Church before the upcoming presidential elections. However, Latin America as a whole does have the world's strictest laws on abortion. The area also has the world's highest abortion rates, averaging nearly one per woman over the course of her reproductive lifetime.

El Salvador banned abortions in 1998 and if doctors find evidence of one, they are required by law to report their patients to the police. Women seeking medical help after abortions gone wrong have been handcuffed to their hospital beds and sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

I understand the religious viewpoint and believe that life is sacred, but know that I, personally, would be unable to condemn someone I love for making a decision to have an abortion, and therefore could not support a law that would punish them for doing so. The entire issue is something that is far too personal to be legislated by the government, regardless of which side one stands on.