Historical: Colombia decriminalizes abortion until week 24 2:28
Bogotá, Colombia (CNN)
Colombia on Monday became the latest country in Latin America to partially decriminalize abortion, marking a major victory for the country's feminist movements and reflecting a broader shift in views about the procedure in the country. the entire region.
The Constitutional Court of Constitutional ruled in favor of decriminalizing abortion up to 24 weeks of gestation, the supreme court announced in a statement.
Abortion rights activists in Bogotá, Colombia, celebrate the decision of the Colombian Constitutional Court to decriminalize abortion until week 24.
Abortion rights advocates reacted Monday with marches in Bogotá, the capital and other major cities, after campaigning for two decades to remove abortion from the country's penal code.
"We knew this was not an easy fight, but at some point it had to happen," said Mariana Ardila, a women's rights activist and lawyer who signed the petition to decriminalize abortion.
"Of course, although we expected full decriminalization and will continue to fight for it, this is an important step forward for us," Ardila told CNN, surrounded by women's rights activists outside the courthouse Monday night.
In these countries abortion is legal (and in these others it is not allowed under any circumstances)
The ruling by the Colombian Supreme Court follows recent decisions by the Mexican Supreme Court of Justice and the Argentine Senate to decriminalize abortion.
Abortion in Colombia had only been legal in three circumstances: when the life or health of the woman is at risk, if the fetus has malformations that make it unviable, or when the pregnancy is the product of rape or incest.
advertising
Now, women who seek an abortion up to the 24th week of their pregnancy will not be prosecuted, the court ruled.
Abortion after 24 weeks remains illegal, except in one of the three circumstances mentioned.
Since 2006, women who seek to terminate a pregnancy outside of those circumstances can face up to 54 months in jail under the Colombian penal code.
While jail sentences have been rare, abortion rights advocates say criminalizing the practice creates a climate of fear and suspicion among patients and the medical establishment, who often feel compelled to report abortions to the public. authorities for fear of participating in a crime.
Hundreds of women in Colombia are investigated for having illegal abortions each year.
Others resort to clandestine abortions, a widespread and often unsafe practice in the rest of the region.
Even women who are medically entitled to an abortion have faced barriers to accessing treatment in Colombia.
Alejandra Gutiérrez, a 23-year-old cancer patient from Bogotá, told CNN that her case had to go through a panel discussion between a gynecologist, a hematologist and a psychiatrist before her application was approved.
Throughout the process, she says she received little clear information about the risks of terminating the pregnancy or carrying the baby to term in the midst of chemotherapy treatment.
Only after three weeks and numerous interviews was she allowed to terminate the pregnancy.
"I felt so vulnerable, so small, and I still feel like I never hit rock bottom. My fear was that it would start to grow, inside my womb, and then it would be too late, I was scared to death," she told CNN in November.
Beyond the law, pregnant women in Colombia have faced bureaucratic delays, negative attitudes, and medical personnel refusing to perform the procedure under a "conscientious objection" clause.
A regional reckoning on abortion
In Latin America, where the Catholic Church continues to have great influence, society has long been hostile to women seeking abortions.
However, two landmark rulings in Argentina and Mexico signal a growing shift in thinking about the procedure.
In September, Mexico's Supreme Court of Justice ruled unanimously that criminalizing abortion is unconstitutional, a decision that is expected to set a precedent for the legal status of abortion throughout the country.
And in December 2020, the Argentine Senate voted to legalize abortion up to 14 weeks of pregnancy, making the country the largest nation in Latin America to legalize the practice.
One year after the law, how many abortions were there in Argentina?
0:45
Nations where the procedure is legal often become vital destinations for women seeking care that they cannot receive in their home countries.
Cuba, Uruguay, French Guiana and Guyana also allow elective abortions, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights.
Brazil, the largest country in Latin America, only allows abortion if the person's life is at risk or when the pregnancy is the result of rape.
El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Suriname prohibit abortion in almost all circumstances.
In Costa Rica and Guatemala, abortions are only allowed if it is to preserve the person's health or help save her life.
In Panama, the procedure is only allowed to preserve the health or life of the mother in case of rape or fetal malformation.
Just last week, the Ecuadorian Congress approved a bill that allows access to abortion -if the pregnancy is the result of rape- up to 12 weeks of pregnancy for women in urban areas and up to 16 weeks for minors and adults in rural zones.
However,
Sexual violence and restrictions on abortion in Paraguay fuel an epidemic of child pregnancy, says Amnesty International
In Colombia, a woman told CNN she was forced to leave the country in 2017 to seek an abortion after becoming pregnant at the age of 15.
She requested that her name not be revealed due to the sensitivity and stigma of the subject there.
“I was so scared, you go into a state of total panic when it happens, how can you think clearly in that state?” he said.
She was still in high school at the time.
However, her mother agreed to help her travel to Mexico City, where the practice was legal long before it became national law.
"I was lucky: my mother does not support abortion and was very disappointed, but she still supported me. She had a good job at the time, so we could pay for a flight to Mexico and stay there for a week to do it. But many others did not they can do it," he told CNN.
“We all know a woman who had an abortion, only nobody knows who she is.
We don't talk about it because it's still a taboo, a secret, but everyone knows it,” she said.
Social taboos and public shame around the issue continue to be obstacles to abortion education and access, according to abortion rights activists.
“This is also about changing mindsets,” said Dr. Laura Gil, a gynecologist in Bogotá who signed one of the petitions to the Colombian Constitutional Court to change the law.
"We're not trying to get people to change their minds about abortion, that's a question that's important only to women facing an unwanted pregnancy.
"It's about people understanding that regardless of their opinion, abortion is a right," she said.
abortion