Colombia decriminalizes abortion

The decision of the Colombian Constitutional Court to decriminalize abortion marks a milestone in the region and circumvents the resistance of Congress to legislate on this matter, after more than half a dozen frustrated attempts during the eighties and nineties.

Once again, it is justice that is once again at the forefront of women's rights and agrees with the feminist organizations, who have found better allies in the magistrates than in the rulers.

In Mexico, Argentina or Ecuador, the courts also paved the way, although not as emphatically as in Colombia.

The court's resolution comes after many months of waiting to resolve a lawsuit by the Just Cause group that called for the removal of the crime of abortion from the Penal Code without a time limit.

The impossibility of the judges to reach a majority forced to limit the decriminalization, which finally stands at 24 weeks, with a tight vote of five against four.

This is a historic ruling in a deeply conservative country that has also been changing its criteria: today, only 20% of the population believes that a woman should go to jail for having an abortion.

The president, Iván Duque, commented on the decision in a very critical way and predicted, in line with the sectors most reluctant to the right to abortion, that it could become an “almost” contraceptive practice, “recurring and regular”.

Until now, the possibility of a conviction had hindered access to legal and safe abortion in Colombia, especially among the poorest women.

Thousands of clandestine abortions are recorded in the country with often lethal consequences for many poor women.

In 2006, the Constitutional Court decriminalized the interruption of pregnancy only in three cases: rape, malformation of the fetus incompatible with life, or risk to the woman's physical or mental health.

But the coexistence of crime for women and for those who perform abortions (often also women) pushed pregnant women outside the legal channel to undergo an interruption in generally very precarious conditions and with little health control.

In addition, most of the complaints, which have meant that some 400 women were prosecuted each year,

The court decision puts an end to this situation and now forces politicians to legislate and immediately create protection mechanisms that allow safe and guaranteed access for all women who freely want to interrupt their pregnancy.

From now on, no Colombian can be denounced if she decides to abort before six months.

And, above all, no woman will have to go to a clandestine clinic putting her life at risk.