April 2022 Church & State Magazine

Colombian Court Legalizes Abortion In Some Cases

  Colombian Court Legalizes Abortion In Some Cases

Colombian Court Legalizes Abortion In Some Cases

The Constitutional Court of Colombia voted in late February to legalize abortion until 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Abortion rights activists in the largely Catholic country of 51 million had hoped for a broader ruling establishing full legality of the procedure. Prior to the ruling, abortion was legal only in cases of rape, a threat to the life of the mother or fetal abnormality. Nevertheless, it is estimated that about 400,000 women received clandestine abortions every year. Hundreds of women were annually charged with violating the law.

Cristina Rosero, an attorney for the U.S.-based group Center for Reproductive Rights, told Religion News Service (RNS) that while the Center had hoped for complete decriminalization of abortion, “this is still a historic step.” The Center was one of five organizations that filed the lawsuit challenging Colombia’s strict abortion laws.

The ruling means that three of the four most populous countries in Latin America now allow abortion.

 

BREAKING NEWS

Americans United & the National Women’s Law Center file suit to challenge Missouri’s abortion bans.

Abortion bans violate the separation of church and state. Americans United and the National Women’s Law Center—the leading experts in religious freedom and gender justice—have joined forces with thirteen clergy from six faith traditions to challenge Missouri’s abortion bans as unconstitutionally imposing one narrow religious doctrine on everyone.


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