Words by Smiley Team
In a historic win for women’s rights, Colombia’s constitutional court voted to legalise abortion up to 24 weeks of a baby’s development in the womb. This comes as particularly good news for the advocacy group, Causa Justa, which launched the initial legal battle that led to abortion being decriminalised.
“We did it!” the group tweeted in celebration.
Prior to the motion made on Monday 21 February, abortion was only permitted in the case of women who had been raped, fatal fetal deformities and poor health of the woman, without time constraints.
The new legislation allows all women to seek an abortion legally regardless of the health of the baby or themselves until 24 weeks of gestation. After this period, women can only abort their pregnancy if they fit the earlier criteria set out in 2006.
[Discover other fantastic news about initiatives supporting gender equality around the world]
Additionally, the court set out how the government must urgently provide support to pregnant women, including family planning services, as well as easy access to abortion care and help with adoptions.
A day since hearing the court’s verdict, crowds of women have been celebrating in front of the court, dancing, singing, jumping in the air and even crying with elation at what this means for Colombian women.
The Causa Justa coalition estimates that about 90% of abortions in the country are conducted in secret, putting women’s lives at risk when they cannot access a safe abortion by a trained doctor.
Made up of 90 feminist organisations, the coalition sued against the criminalisation of abortion in September 2020.
This is a momentous victory for Colombians, however, campaigners believe the government and courts can go further.
"We hope that the next step for Colombia will be the total decriminalization of abortion, in order to protect women's reproductive autonomy at all times," said Nancy Northup, president of the New York City-based Center for Reproductive Rights.
SUPPORT: Help Causa Justa continue its work pursuing better rights for women. Support Causa Justa’s campaigns.
DONATE: To help defend women’s reproductive rights around the world, donate to the Center for Reproductive Rights.
