First legal abortion in Colombia

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Aug 30 2006

The first legal abortion in Colombia recently was performed following the legalization of the procedure in certain cases earlier this year, BBC News reports (McDermott, BBC News, 8/25).

The country's highest court, the Constitutional Court, in May voted to effectively legalize abortion in cases of rape, incest, to save the life of the woman or when the fetus is expected to die after birth because of severe fetal abnormalities.

Under the ruling, abortion in all other cases still will carry a sentence of up to three years in prison for the woman undergoing an abortion and for the physician performing the procedure (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 5/12).

According to BBC News, the abortion was performed on an 11-year-old girl who was allegedly raped by her stepfather.

Despite the May ruling, the girl's case had to appear before the Constitutional Court, which authorized the procedure.

Some abortion-rights supporters in the country said the May decision was the "first logical step to a general legalization of abortion," but the "fury aroused during this abortion" might mean it is "still a way off," BBC News reports.

The Catholic Church has "condemned" the procedure, and protestors gathered outside the hospital where the abortion was performed, according to BBC News (BBC News, 8/25).

This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.