Pregnancy Management in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua: a Matter of Right or Choice?

Since 2006, in Nicaragua al forms of abortion including therapeutic abortion were banned. This ban has caused commotion and alarm around the Women NGO’s and Human Rights organizations in Nicaragua. Their main arguments were the violation of women reproductive rights and choices. We should take into consideration that right or choices can not be handed over and the circumstances needed in order to claim them. This research draws attention to the Miskito and Mayangna indigenous group, and the Creole ethnic group that live on the north Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua. The objective, is to look at the ways these women and men whose realities are different from the rest of the population of Nicaragua, manage their pregnancy and what aspect influences their decisions. The methods used were qualitative, looking at what individuals are able to do as well as the process of decision making and the difference among and within the different indigenous and ethnic groups. This research is relevant, because it looks at how national discourses relates to local discourses. And who actually could claim right and choices regarding abortion and therapeutic abortion.