Abortion in Colombia through a private institution can cost about 360,000 to 990,000 Colombian pesos, or between $87 and $223, according to the Oriéntame Foundation, which provides sexual and reproductive health services. A high figure considering that the current minimum wage is 1,000,000 pesos, or about $225 at the current exchange rate, according to the Labor Department. The existence of abortion as a crime reproduces inequalities between women. The vast majority of people reported for clandestine abortions in Colombia are residents of rural areas and nearly a third of them are survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence or assault. Thus, instead of favouring a more guaranteed rights framework, a framework of persecution of women in broader situations of vulnerability prevailed. Less than a year later, in September 2021, Mexico`s Supreme Court passed the decriminalization of abortion. This decision only affected the legislation of the state of coahuila and does not imply that abortion is legal throughout Mexico, but it does set a legal precedent that could change laws in the rest of the country. With the new law, the crime of abortion still exists, but only if the pregnancy is terminated after 24 weeks (with the exception of the three cases mentioned above). Talking about abortion and voluntary abortion (IVE) seems to be basically the same thing, but we must keep in mind that behind the word abortion lies a number of ideas related to illegality, fear and, at worst, criminality. The term IVE, Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy, makes it possible to analyse a reality in the field of women`s ethics, freedom and autonomy© and allows a decision from the point of view of sexual and reproductive rights, which are above all human rights. Kelly`s situation is that of dozens of women in Colombia who, despite the mandatory nature of the court`s decision, do not have timely access to an abortion.
Between 22 February and 31 May 2022, the Mesa por la Vida y la Salud de las Mujeres, a feminist collective that defends women`s sexual and reproductive rights, accompanied 76 women facing barriers to entry to the IVE. 75% of the cases correspond to women who were in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. An important figure, given that the gestational age limit has been at the heart of the debate on the decriminalization of abortion in Colombia. The Colombian Constitutional Court`s decision to decriminalise abortion in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy is a great triumph for human rights, Amnesty International said today. In French Guiana, the same legislation applies as in France, where abortion is legal in all cases up to 12 weeks. The French government legalized abortion in 1975 and introduced it into the social security system in 1982. Miscarriage occurs when an embryo or fetus is expelled from the woman`s uterus for natural reasons, which in most cases are related to the health and age of the pregnant woman. The penalties incurred in Colombia for the practice of abortion, in cases not decriminalized by the Constitutional Court (up to 24 weeks and for all three reasons) and under article 122 of the Colombian Penal Code, are as follows: «A woman who causes her abortion or allows another to induce it shall be in prison from sixteen (16) to fifty-four (54) months in prison.
The same penalty shall be imposed on anyone who, with the consent of the woman, performs the conduct provided for in the preceding paragraph. [19] Clandestine abortion is the fourth most common cause of maternal mortality in Colombia. It is considered one of the priorities to improve reproductive health. [2] Is it true that if abortion is legalized in Colombia, the number of abortions will increase indiscriminately? Although this is a fundamental right established by the Constitutional Court in C-355 of 2006, access to abortion in Colombia is currently unfair and restricted. It is estimated that currently 400,400 abortions are performed in the country each year, and less than 10% of these procedures are performed legally, with a large concentration of services in large cities. No. Services must be available, whether they are considered a medical©emergency or not, as long as they are available in the three cases where they are approved under Colombian law. Ministries and municipalities are required to ensure sufficient availability of services in the public health system so that access to the interruption is real and care is timely. Movements for the right to free abortion advocate «freedom of choice» in the face of an unwanted pregnancy, so they are known as pro-choice. These groups of liberal ideology[24],[25] feminists[26] and the political left demand the voluntary termination of pregnancy under conditions of freedom, legality and health security for pregnant women, arguing that it is a right of women that belongs to reproductive rights, reproductive autonomy and individual freedom.
[27] [28] [29] [30] «After the legalization of abortion in Argentina last year and the recent decriminalization in Mexico, this decision is another example of the unstoppable momentum of the green tide in Latin America.