Latin America and Caribbean nations are estimated to have some of the highest numbers of abortion worldwide, despite also having some of the most restrictive abortion laws. Most of these countries allow abortion only to save a woman's life, and a couple of them prohibit abortion under any circumstances. As a result, abortion is a main cause of maternal mortality, constituting nearly 50 percent of maternal mortality in some countries and 21 percent in the region as a whole. Most abortion procedures are unsafe; an average of one unsafe abortion occurs for every three live births. (Ipas website). A number of different human rights organizations are working with the citizenry, state health departments, and pro-abortion organizations to change the existing laws.
             In Latin America millions of abortions are performed annually, normally in unsafe and covert conditions. The procedure is done secretly, sometimes by the pregnant woman herself, because they are illegal. Chile and El Salvador impose criminal penalties for abortion in all circumstances including the safety of the mother's life. Nearly every other country in the region has extremely restrictive abortion laws that include exceptions permitting abortion in certain narrow circumstances, such as where the life or health of the woman is in danger, or where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. Cuba, the regional anomaly, has made elective abortion available since the mid-1960s. (Mariner, 2005).
             The situation in each country is relatively more or less restrictive. For example, in Mexico the situation is even more complicated due to a federal system that places the regulation of abortion in the hands of state governments. Thus, each state is different. Some states have passed relatively progressive laws. Local authorities in Mexico City amended the penal code in 2000 to liberalize abortion rules where the woman's health is at risk or fetal defects exist. It also reduced ...