Colombia 4th Latin American country to legalise abortion, campaigners celebrate ‘historic victory’

Colombia became the latest country in Latin America to decriminalise abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, adding to a recent string of legal victories for reproductive rights in the country. The South American country’s constitutional court ruled five against four to decriminalise the procedure on Monday evening. The decision follows a series of rulings in Mexico and Argentina that lowered barriers to abortion.

Before the ruling, Colombia allowed abortions only when a woman's life was in danger, a fetus had malformations, or a pregnancy resulted from rape.

Now women in Colombia will be able to get abortions until the 24th week of their pregnancy without having to provide any justification. After the 24th week, abortion will still be restricted to women whose health is in danger.

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 development that appeared unlikely just a few years ago. Abortion rights activists said it could fuel further gains for abortion rights in the region.

As the final vote was confirmed on Monday afternoon, large crowds of abortion rights supporters 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!”

Since 2006, the procedure has been permitted in Colombia in cases of rape, nonviable pregnancy 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 prosecuted for having an abortion.

Illegal abortions can be unsafe and cause about 70 deaths a year in Colombia, according to the country’s health ministry.

• Colombia
• abortion
• campaigners
• legalise
• ‘historic victory’
• decriminalise