The Constitutional Court declares the criminalization of consensual abortion enforceable, in the sense that the crime is not configured if the behavior is performed before the 24th week of pregnancy, and without subjecting this limit if the reasons set out in the C-355 judgment of 2006 are set out. There are two types of abortions: spontaneous or natural and induced. Causa Justa`s lawsuit before Colombia`s Constitutional Court offers a historic opportunity to completely decriminalize abortion and end a root cause model that violates the rights of women and health professionals. Human Rights Watch submitted an intervention to the Court calling on it to take this decisive step towards the realization of human rights. The text stipulates that natural and legal Uruguayan citizens and foreign women with more than one year of residence in the country have access to voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVE). IVE can only be performed within 12 weeks of pregnancy, with the following exceptions: (a) if the pregnancy poses a serious risk to the woman`s health; (b) If a pathological process is detected that causes malformations incompatible with ectopic life; (c) If it is the result of an offence. The law guarantees the principles and rules of confidentiality, informed consent and respect for the autonomy of the will for the person and medical institutions. The interdisciplinary team should: (a) guide and advise women in the prevention of future pregnancies as well as in family planning programmes; (b) meet with the parent if the woman has given her consent; ensure that the woman`s decision-making process remains free from pressure from third parties and refrain from assuming the role of rejecting or approving abortion or expressing personal opinions for or against the applicant`s decision. Conscientious objection: Medical and technical personnel who have to intervene directly in an abortion may protest for reasons of conscience. The exercise of this right obliges the doctor to personally refer the patient to another doctor in order to ensure continuity of the patient`s immediate care.
The conscientious objector may revoke it at any time in writing. Administrative, operational and other personnel who are not directly involved in the medical act concerned cannot bear moral conscience. Conscientious objection cannot be invoked in actions after abortion. In which© cases is IVE or abortion allowed in Colombia? Colombia`s abortion laws could change in the coming days, depending on what the Constitutional Court decides in two cases related to the complete decriminalization of the practice. Diseases or malformations of the fetus that make its life outside the womb unprofitable are another reason for access to legal abortion in Colombia. It is important to clarify that not all malformations in the fetus are a legal cause of abortion, but only those that prevent life outside the uterus. [18] Clandestine abortion is the fourth most common cause of maternal mortality in Colombia. It is considered one of the priorities to improve reproductive health. [2] Induced abortion or voluntary abortion is legal in Colombia. Women can have a free abortion without restrictions until the 24th week of pregnancy (viability), by the judgment C-055-22 of the Constitutional Court of 21 February 2022.
[1] [2] [3] Then it is only legal to have an abortion if one of the three causes (risk of death of the surrogate mother, malformation of the fetus or rape) that have been legalized since the C-355 decision of the Constitutional Court of Colombia in 2006, is fulfilled. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Therefore, since then, the rule that allows abortion in three cases at any time of pregnancy remains in force: for rape or forced carnal access, including incest; by malformation of the fetus; or for an immediate risk to the mother`s health. This regulation has been in force in the country since 2006, when the Supreme Court ruled on the merits in a decision on the matter. The objective of this law is to regulate access to voluntary termination of pregnancy and post-abortion care, in accordance with the commitments made by the Argentine State in the field of public health and human rights of women and persons with different gender identities with the ability to become pregnant, and to contribute to the reduction of preventable morbidity and mortality. It enshrines the right of women and people with different gender identities who are able to decide and have access to abortion before the fourteenth week (14) of the pregnancy process. Decriminalization was accepted in a special session, in a process that takes months because administrative and obstacles have been imposed on judges by anti-abortion groups that had not addressed the debate until today. Abortion in Colombia was decriminalized in only three cases in 2006 by a constitutional lawsuit filed by doctor and lawyer Mónica Roa before the Constitutional Court. Several feminist groups and activists for sexual and reproductive rights, such as María Ladi Londoño and France`s Florence Thomas, among others, have fought for the decriminalization of abortion in Colombia as a case of social justice, these struggles have taken place before the Congress of the Republic to promote laws that promote women`s freedom of choice in the face of unwanted pregnancy or teenage pregnancy. The arrival of lawyer Mónica Roa was crucial to a highly contentious project to decriminalize abortion in Colombia, supported by the international organization Women`s Link Worldwide. Finally, through the Colombian Constitutional Court and with the great support of several women`s groups and non-governmental organizations, the letter of unconstitutionality was published, in which it was mentioned that the total criminalization of abortion in Colombia is unfair and that, therefore, the rates of unsafe abortions and clandestine abortions were very high, causing the death of many women or having significant consequences for life.
unsafe abortion procedures, leading to a national public health crisis. Finally, in 2006, the Court delivered judgment C-355 of the Colombian Constitutional Court of 10. May 2006 following the Martha Sulay González case,[12][13][14] legal abortion is permitted in three specific situations:[4][15][16][17] Is legal and safe abortion performed only in urgent cases? Human Rights Watch published eight reports analyzing how the criminalization of abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean violates internationally recognized human rights. From these studies, we drew three central conclusions. In 2022, Amnesty International (AI) estimates that around 400,000 abortions will be performed in Colombia, of which 90% – around 360,000 are clandestine or unsafe abortions and are performed without adequate hygiene measures – and only 10% will be performed in health facilities. [2] In other cases (not wanting to be a mother, accident, lack of contraception, etc.), abortion was punishable by up to four and a half years in prison. In Colombia, the Penal Code considers abortion legal in three specific cases: rape or incest, fetal malformation that makes one`s life unprofitable, or when the continuation of the pregnancy constitutes a threat to the life or health of the woman, confirmed by a doctor. But anyone who performs an abortion – or performs it – outside of these three scenarios commits a crime. The Constitutional Court`s decision is a major milestone in a country where, according to a report by the Mesa por la Vida y la Salud de las Mujeres collective, “about 400 cases are brought before the criminal justice system each year and women, adolescents and girls in vulnerable situations are most at risk of being criminalized. Thus, 12.5% of abortion cases prosecuted by the Colombian justice system correspond to women aged 14 to 17; and 24 per cent of cases leading to convictions were in minor women. The word abortion comes from the©Latin term (abortus), from: deprivation and ortus: birth.