Colombia’s Abortion Ruling Can Impact Latin America's Abortion Rights

The highest court of Colombia is going to issue a court ruling that will result in the return of the total abortion ban in the country or to legalize it just how the United States did, said an article from WLRN.

Colombia is one of Latin America's biggest and most culturally influential nations. Whatever the decision of the court, its decision will significantly impact a big portion of Latin America.

Currently, it is one of the strictest countries in the world when it comes to abortion laws.

When is Abortion Legal in Colombia?

According to the executive director of Profamilia Marta Royo, the controversy about a young pregnant woman from Popayán, Colombia who decided to undergo an abortion while being 12 weeks pregnant is a subject of discussion. Profamilia is a not-for-profit organization that helps support reproductive health and abortion rights.

The young woman's pregnancy was unwanted. Her doctors had given her a diagnosis of being suicidal.

There is no total abortion ban in Colombia. In the past 14 years, the country had allowed abortion only in situations where the life of the mother is at risk. This means that the young woman can have a legal abortion due to her suicidal diagnosis from her doctors.

However, Royo emphasized that the unnamed woman was already seeking medical centers to perform abortions since her first trimester of pregnancy. All of the medical centers that she visited refused to grant her request.

On the woman's seventh month of pregnancy, after a judge had announced a grant of abortion with the help of Profamilia, she was able to undergo an abortion.

The Issue with Colombia's Current Abortion Laws

According to Royo, it is a difficult matter to know that a seven months pregnant woman will undergo an abortion. However, people should know about the entire story of how long it took the woman to get the opportunity she requested to be fulfilled. Despite the legality of her request for an abortion, many Colombian women like her are hindered by the current situation involving the abortion law.

From a different point of view, people are seeing the case of the unidentified woman as proof that the country of Colombia's abortion laws is way too strict.

Another view on the incident reveals a dire need for additional legal access of people to abortion in the country. According to Royo, one way to resolve this issue is the advancement of the legalization of the abortion law of the nation.

The Court's Decision

In 2006, the Constitutional Court of Colombia legalized abortion for women who were victims of incest, rape, and those whose lives are threatened with their pregnancy. Also, fetuses with severe malformation are allowed for abortion.

In the case of the unidentified woman, the court is already in the process of looking at the situation and is formulating laws to legalize abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. Also, it is already reviewing petitions to reverse the 2006 abortion ruling and criminalize all types of abortion resulting in a total abortion ban in the country. The decision is still not made. It is expected that the decision may come as early as Wednesday.