Columbia has officially legalized abortion, particularly for women who are no more than 24 weeks pregnant. The country's top court ruled that abortion will no longer be a crime under Columbian law.
After years of protests and calls by women's rights organizations for access to more rights, Colombia's Constitutional Court finally made the decision to decriminalize the practice across the historically conservative and mostly-Catholic country.
The decision was made after months of deliberation following two major petitions that challenged a section of the country's penal code, which dealt with punishments for those found guilty of abortion. In one of the petitions, it was argued that criminalizing abortion was a violation of a person's right to human dignity, freedom, and equality as stipulated in the Constitution.
Another argument that was made in court is how the existing penal code, which has cast abortion in such as negative light, has prevented some women who needed to go through the procedure for medical and other valid reasons from getting them.
Columbia is the latest South American country to legalize abortion. In September, the Supreme Court of Mexico decriminalized abortion, while Argentina's Congress approved the practice in late 2020. Following Colombia's decision, three of Latin America's four most populated countries have now made abortion more widely available.
It also comes at a time when the United States is trending in the other way, with abortion restrictions popping up all throughout the country. The U.S. Supreme Court is also now debating whether to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion.
Under the court ruling, abortion done within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy will be allowed. The ruling also sets the stage for the government to regulate the practice and to get rid of dangerous underground clinics.
Women's rights groups, including those from Mexico, Paraguay, and Brazil, have been calling on the Columbian government to protect women's sexual and reproductive rights. The protests underscored the ongoing cultural shift in the region, which has mostly been known for its Catholic faith and conservatism. The movements have mostly been led by grassroots feminist groups.
The legalization of abortion in Argentina, the largest nation in Latin America to do so, further escalated protests and calls for action in Columbia and other Latin American countries. Argentina's decision served as proof that legalizing abortion is possible even in countries with strong religious beliefs and patriarchal ideals.
The court's decision was welcomed by hundreds of abortion rights supporters, who were gathered around the courthouse in Bogota. Women in the crowd danced with green handkerchiefs, which have since become the symbol for their fight to protect women's rights, outside the courthouse after the decision was announced.
