Colombia's Constitutional Court decriminalizes abortion up to the 24th week.
The discussion had been postponed since last year.
(Sputnik) – The Colombian Constitutional Court has confirmed the decriminalization of abortion up to the 24th week of gestation, after which only the three previously permitted grounds will apply: fetal malformation, risk to the mother, or rape.
"The conduct of abortion will only be punishable when performed after the twenty-fourth (24) week of gestation and, in any case, this time limit will not apply to the three cases provided for in Sentence C-355 of 2006," the Court reported in a press release.
These three assumptions are "when the continuation of the pregnancy constitutes a danger to the life or health of the woman, (...) when there is a serious malformation of the fetus, (...) and when the pregnancy results from conduct, duly reported, constituting carnal access or sexual act without consent," the document adds.
The discussion had been delayed since last year because several Supreme Court justices had previously faced challenges for publicly expressing their support for or opposition to decriminalization.
The study on decriminalization was produced in response to two requests: one from the feminist movement Just Cause, and another from citizen Andrés Mateo Sánchez.