Colombia’s state council on Thursday repealed a 2006 decree that allowed voluntary abortion in three specific cases.
The amendment had been passed through the Constitutional Court by the government of then President Alvaro Uribe, de-criminalizing abortion in cases when a woman was pregnant due to rape, if the mother’s life could be endangered or if the fetus was subject to congenital malformation.
MORE: Abortion under attack
The high court had suspended the revised law since 2009, and has now ruled that in ordering the amendment the President was outside of his constitutional jurisdiction and would have needed to create a new law to carry out the changes.
BACKGROUND: Court wrong to change abortion laws: Inspector general
Following the ruling, the court’s statement added that the government and national health services can still make retrospective changes to the law but only if they remain within the boundaries set in existing legislation.
The Colombian government last proposed decriminalization of abortion in September 2012, which was fiercely contested by conservatives.
MORE: Colombian govt proposes decriminalizing abortion
President Juan Manuel Santos recently reminded the country that Colombia has “the highest rate of teen pregnancy in Latin America” saying it is robbing opportunities from “thousands and thousands of little girls.”
MORE: Colombia teen pregnancy worst in Latin America: Santos
Sources
- ANULAN DECRETO QUE REGLAMENTABA IVE (Consejo de Estado)
- Anulan decretos que reglamentaron interrupción voluntaria del embarazo (El Espectador)
