The Washington Post - USA (2022-02-22)

A12 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22 , 2022

BY SAMANTHA SCHMIDT

AND DIANA DURÁN

bogotá, colombia — Colom-
bia’s constitutional court voted
Monday to decriminalize abor-
tion in the first 24 weeks of
pregnancy, a transformative shift
for the majority-Catholic country
and the latest sign of a turning
tide in Latin America.
The ruling makes Colombia the
third large country in the region
to decriminalize the procedure in
slightly more than a year, after
Mexico and Argentina, a develop-
ment that appeared unlikely just
a few years ago. Abortion rights
activists said it could fuel further
gains for abortion rights in the
region.
As t he final vote was confirmed
on Monday afternoon, large
crowds of abortion rights sup-
porters celebrated outside the
court in the capital of Bogotá,
waving green scarves as they
jumped up and down, shouting,
“It’s legal, it’s legal, abortion in
Colombia is legal!”
“Today, women in this country
have won,” said Catalina Mar-
tínez Coral, regional director of
the Center for Reproductive
Rights, one of the groups that
brought the lawsuit before the
court. Her words were nearly
drowned out by the cheers of
women around her outside the
court. “This is a historic decision
for Latin America and the Carib-
bean, and will serve as a beacon
for the constitutional and su-
preme courts of the region.”
Since 2006, the procedure has
been permitted in Colombia in
cases of rape, nonviable pregnan-
cy and when the life or health of
the mother was in danger. At the
time, those rules positioned the
country as a regional leader in
abortion rights. But between
2006 and 2020, the court heard,
nearly 3,000 people were pros-
ecuted for having an abortion.
More than 90 groups filed a
lawsuit in September 2020, argu-
ing that the criminalization of
abortion exacerbates the stigma
around the procedure and creates
barriers to access, even for people
who qualify.
The constitutional court was
legally obligated to issue a ruling
on abortion by mid-November

2021. But the decision was de-
      layed after a judge requested a
      recusal for comments he publicly

made about the subject. The re-

maining eight judges were evenly

split, forcing the court to assign

two additional judges to break

the tie — one for each of the two

lawsuits before the court. On

Monday, one of these tiebreaking

judges voted in favor of expand-

ing access, leading to a 5-to-4 vote

to allow abortion in the first

24 weeks of pregnancy.

Until early last year, elective

abortion was legal in Latin Amer-

ica only in Cuba, Uruguay, Guy-

ana and parts of Mexico. Other

countries allow the procedure

only in cases of rape or when the

health or life of the pregnant

person is at risk. Seven countries

prohibit it under all circum-

stances: El Salvador, Honduras,

the Dominican Republic, Nicara-

gua, Jamaica, Suriname and Hai-

ti.

Argentine President Alberto

Fernández signed legislation last

year to allow abortion during the

first 14 weeks of pregnancy. Mexi-

co’s supreme court in September

ruled unconstitutional a state law

that imposed prison terms for

people who had illegal abortions

and those who aided them. The

ruling is binding on other states.

As Latin American countries

move to expand abortion rights,

lawmakers in the United States

are racing to restrict them. Re-

publican-led states such as Flori-

da, Arizona and West Virginia

have advanced bills to ban abor-

tion after 15 weeks, as the Su-

preme Court weighs whether to

weaken or overturn the 1973 land-

mark decision that established

the right to an abortion.

Advocates hope the court deci-

sion in Colombia builds momen-

tum for abortion rights in other

countries in the region.

In Chile, lawmakers rejected a

bill in late November that would

have expanded the legal right to

abortion, a bill that was opposed

by the country’s conservative

president. But Chilean advocates

are hopeful their new leftist presi-

dent-elect, Gabriel Boric, may

help usher in change.

In Ecuador, the country’s con-

stitutional court decriminalized

abortion last year in all cases of

pregnancy resulting from rape.

Previously, abortions were only

allowed if a patient’s life was in

danger or if someone with an

intellectual disability was raped.

Last week, Ecuador’s National

Assembly approved regulations

allowing access to abortions in

cases of rape, but only up to

12 weeks of pregnancy for adults

in urban areas and up to 16 weeks

for minors and adults in rural

areas. The measures must now be

signed by Ecuadoran President

Guillermo Lasso, a Catholic who

opposes abortion but said he re-

spected the d ecision last year.

Abortion rights advocates in

Ecuador criticized the National

Assembly’s time restrictions and

said they would continue to work

toward expanding access in the

country. One advocate, Ana Cris-

tina Vera, said the decision in

Colombia is particularly impor-

tant given the constitutional

court’s reputation in the region.

“Throughout the region, it will

strengthen a trend away from

using criminal law to restrict

women from the right to abor-

tion, from using criminal law to

regulate women’s health,” said

Vera, director of a feminist collec-

tive in Ecuador that provides le-

gal aid to women.

Colombian conservatives have

accused the constitutional court

of taking an activist role on issues

such as abortion, same-sex mar-

riage and euthanasia. In July, the

court ruled that the right to eu-

thanasia, recognized here in 1997,

applies not only to patients with

terminal prognoses but also to

those with “intense physical or

mental suffering from bodily in-

jury or serious and incurable dis-

ease.”

The court had a chance to lift

the country’s abortion restric-

tions in March 2020, but the

effort fell one vote short of a

majority.

“A woman doesn’t need to

abort when her pregnancy is un-

wanted or presents complica-

tions,” tweeted María del Rosario

Guerra, a Colombian senator and

outspoken opponent of abortion

rights. “She needs public policies,

social accompaniment and op-

tions for life, not the offer of

abortion as the first and only way

out.”

While abortion rights activists

celebrated the decision on Mon-

day, many had hoped the court

would rule in favor of total de-

criminalization of the procedure.

Barriers to abortion access would

continue to persist in Colombia

for the most vulnerable, some

said, even for those who meet the

legal requirements.

Such was the case for a young

woman who sought out an abor-

tion three years ago and spoke in

an interview about her ordeal on

the condition of anonymity to

protect her privacy. Diagnosed

with bipolar disorder when she

was 12, she said she was a victim

of sexual abuse at a y oung age and

struggled with homelessness for

part of her life. She argued to her

health provider that her pregnan-

cy posed a danger to her mental

health and would make her eligi-

ble for an abortion. “Every time

the baby kicked, all I felt was fear

and despair,” the woman said.

While a doctor initially ap-

proved her request for an abor-

tion, the woman was later forcibly

admitted to a hospital by psychia-

trists who said she was suffering

from “abortion idealization,” ac-

cording to a lawsuit she filed in

2020. She eventually gave birth
      “against my will” to a boy, a child
      she loves but is unable to care for.
      The toddler is in the custody of
      his father.
      “These rights only exist for
      women with money. If I had
      money... my life would be a
      different story,” the woman said.
      “It’s not an easy decision for
      anyone. It’s one you make think-
      ing less about your own condi-
      tions and more about what life
      will be like for the other, for the
      one inside of you.”

Colombian court decriminalizes abortion, adding to regional momentum

LUISA GONZALEZ/REUTERS

Women in Colombia celebrate the court’s vote. “This is a historic decision for Latin America and the Caribbean, and will serve as a beacon

for the constitutional and supreme courts of the region,” said Catalina Martínez Coral of the Center for Reproductive Rights.

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