Colombian Women Imprisoned for Abortions

Human Rights Watch is turning up the heat on the Colombian government and actively challenging the national law that imprisons women who have had abortions for up to four and a half years. Human Rights Watch claims the law is inconsistent with international human rights law and is therefore unconstitutional because even in the most "extreme cases" such as rape or maternal mortality, abortion is still criminal. Human Rights Watch has presented a petition (in Spanish) to Colombia's Constitional Court in order to contest the restrictive and harmful law. “An estimated 450,000 abortions occur every year in Colombia. Recent studies indicate that a higher proportion of adolescent girls than adult women undergo illegal abortions.” Illegal abortions are the leading cause of maternal mortality in Colombia because abortions are usually carried out in unsafe conditions; however, the Colombian government seems to be making few concessions for the women and international bodies fighting for the human rights of Colombian women. “Colombia's law prohibits abortion in all circumstances. The penalty is lighter when the pregnancy is the result of rape (or "nonconsensual artificial insemination"). In 2000, the Colombian Congress amended the penal code, adding the possibility for a judge to waive penal sanctions on a case-by-case basis. However, judges have discretion to waive penal sentences only in cases of rape and under two further conditions: if the abortion occurs in "extraordinary situations of abnormal motivation" (an ambiguous clause that requires judicial interpretation) and if the judge considers the punishment "unnecessary." However, a later amendment in 2005 also extended the maximum sentences for abortion from three years in prison to four and a half.”