Nothing has changed. With a few exceptions, Colombian women who want to have an abortion are forced to go underground. The Constitutional Court said on Monday (March 2nd) that it was refusing to rule on the full decriminalization of the voluntary termination of pregnancy. The current regime therefore remains in force: women have the right to abort in the event of rape, a serious malformation of the fetus or a danger to the life or health of the pregnant woman.
This regime, which results from a 2006 decision of the Constitutional Court, does not satisfy either the pro or the anti-abortion. "But, on a Latin American scale, he is relatively favorable and even looks like a model in the region, since he authorizes abortion in three cases", underlines the Frenchwoman Florence Thomas, figurehead of feminism in Colombia. In the Latin American region, only Cuba, Guyana, Uruguay and, in Mexico, Mexico City and the state of Oaxaca, authorize abortion at the woman's request.
The decision of the Constitutional Court was eagerly awaited. She had been seized by Natalia Bernal, a lawyer opposed to abortion who wanted to see the judges reverse the jurisprudence of 2006 and prohibit once and for all abortion. The reporting magistrate Alejandro Linares created the surprise by presenting a draft sentence to, on the contrary, decriminalize abortion. Six of the nine magistrates refused to follow him. They also refused to rule on the merits, considering that M's requestme Bernal was legally ill-formulated.
Satisfied with the status quo
For several weeks, the debate had raged. But both sides were ultimately satisfied with the status quo. "We escaped the disaster, rejoices Silvia Mendez, practicing Catholic and anti-abortion activist. The Court did not listen to the rapporteur magistrate Alejandro Linares, who proposed to completely decriminalize abortion until the sixteenth week of pregnancy. "
For her part, Angelica Cocoma, from the association Women’s Link Worldwide considers that "The non-decision of the Court is a victory, since the magistrates have reaffirmed that abortion is, in some cases, a right, and that it is a right definitively acquired".
"An opportunity was lost to see abortion finally legalized. But what is important is that the cause advances in public opinion, continues Mme Cocoma. Dozens of women took to the streets. In the media, journalists and intellectuals have spoken out in favor of abortion. We’ve never seen that. " Feminist activists hope March 8 protest will be this year "Particularly followed".
"Everyone aborts, nobody talks about it, said sighing Rafael Rivera, doctor. This is what we call double morality here. " The Colombian penal code punishes the "Abortion offense" from sixteen to fifty-four months in prison. But the “culprits” are not prosecuted: 5,833 abortions were reported to the prosecution between 1998 and 2019, i.e. less than 0.1% of the cases.
Right guaranteed since 2006
Authorities estimate that some 400,000 clandestine abortions are performed each year. From 2006 to January 2020, only 74,500 abortions were performed legally, the right to abortion guaranteed in principle since 2006 in some cases being little respected. "Women who have been raped or who fear for their lives lack information, or fear to seek help from an official health center. Many medical teams complicate the procedures to follow and multiply the documents to be provided, when they do not invoke collective conscientious objection to refuse to perform a legal abortion ", recalls Mme Cocoma.
"Women who live in the countryside, far from health centers, or those who, in town, have very low resources are obviously the most penalized by these difficulties", recalls Florence Thomas. Women who can afford it all have excellent abortions.
Abortion remains a taboo subject. The Catholic Church and the Evangelical Churches watch over it. But on other subjects, the loss of influence of religious discourse is blatant: the legalization of same-sex marriage – in 2016 – made very little stir. How to explain these variable speed advances in Colombian society? "There are men who fought for the recognition of the rights of the LGTBI community, recalls Florence Thomas. On the other hand, the struggle for the right to abortion is essentially a struggle for women. It advances more slowly. "
Parliamentarians are dragging their feet on the issue of abortion. "Congress is probably more progressive than it seems on the subject. But he does not want to take the risk of legislating on a subject perceived as very sensitive, and politically dangerous, sighs Green Party senator Angelica Lozano with a sigh. Parliamentarians therefore leave it to the Constitutional Court, which does not have to worry about citizens' votes, to do the work. " Mme Lozano questions the relevance of this strategy. "Society is changing", she notes. She will be on the street on March 8.
