By Reuters Staff
(This January 21 story corrects to remove erroneous reference to next year in third paragraph)
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Members of the Honduran Congress voted on Thursday to amend the constitution making it much harder to reverse existing hard-line bans on abortion and same-sex marriage, as lawmakers double down on socially conservative priorities.
Lawmakers voted to require a three-quarters super-majority to change a constitutional article that gives a fetus the same legal status of a person, and another that states that civil marriage in the Central American nation can only be between a man and a woman.
With 88 legislators in favor, 28 opposed and seven abstentions, the proposal will still need a second vote in the unicameral legislature before it is enacted.
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Legislators in Honduras are pushing a constitutional reform through Congress that would make it virtually impossible to legalise abortion in the country now or in the future.
The new measure will require at least three-quarters of Congress to vote in favour of modifying the abortion law, which is among the strictest in the world.
Honduras forbids abortion under any circumstance, even rape or incest.
Its latest move comes in response to Argentina legalising abortion last month.
According to BBC, across Latin America, there has been increased pro-choice campaigning, known as the “green wave”, based on the colour worn by protesters.
Le Honduras renforce son interdiction de l avortement rfi.fr - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rfi.fr Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
(Adds details on intelligence, paragraphs 2, 10)
WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The United States could begin sharing sensitive intelligence with Honduras about inbound flights carrying drugs, U.S. officials told Reuters, even as the Central American country faces scrutiny from Washington over drug-related corruption.
A proposed memorandum of understanding on flight-path intelligence sharing, which has not previously been reported, has yet to be finalized by the U.S. and Honduran governments. Still, Honduras has already agreed to a key U.S. recommendation that it rescind authority to shoot down suspected drug trafficking planes flying into the country.
Washington is proceeding carefully, having learned painful lessons after Peru acted on a CIA tip in 2001 and shot down a plane carrying American Christian missionaries, killing a mother and her infant daughter.