'Historic victory': Campaigners in Colombia celebrate decriminalization of abortion

In Colombia, abortion has been decriminalized, as ruled by the country's top court on Monday. People can now seek the procedure during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy without fear of prosecution, a result of a growing grassroots feminist movement that has swept across Colombia, long a mostly conservative, Catholic country.

The historic win saw a sea of celebrators bursting onto the streets of the capital, Bogotá, and other major cities in the country. Activists clad in green and wearing handkerchiefs (a symbol derived from Argentina's abortion rights movement) cheered, danced, and tearfully hugged one another outside the Constitutional Court.

Colombia joins a string of Latin American countries that have made similar legal rulings. Mexico's Supreme Court decriminalized abortion last year, while Argentina legalized it in another landmark vote in 2020 after a long, tough campaign.

Decriminalization essentially states that any criminal penalties attached to an act are no longer in place. On the other hand, legalization is the process of making an act entirely legal.

“We celebrate this ruling as a historic victory for the women’s movement in Colombia that has fought for decades for the recognition of their rights," said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International's Americas director, in a press statement.

"Women, girls, and people able to bear children are the only ones who should make decisions about their bodies. Now, instead of punishing them, the Colombian authorities will have to recognize their autonomy over their bodies and their life plans."

The green handkerchief first became a symbol of Argentina's abortion rights movement. Credit: Photo by Guillermo Legaria Schweizer/Getty Images.

A green wave of celebration in Bogotá. Credit: Raul Arboleda / AFP via Getty Images.

Two petitions were under consideration in the Constitutional Court of Colombia, one from lawyer Andrés Mateo Sánchez Molina, who argued that the criminalisation of abortion was unconstitutional. The second came from Causa Justa, a coalition of feminist and abortion rights groups, whose lawyers stated that the stigma and overall perception of abortion in the country prevented even legal procedures from taking place.

Women's Link Worldwide (WLW), an international rights group, was one of over 100 organizations and activists comprising the Causa Justa movement. They collectively filed a lawsuit in the Constitutional Court in 2020.

Mariana Ardila, managing attorney at WLW, tells Mashable that this week's ruling is a "significant step forward in allowing Colombian women and girls greater access to dignified abortion care, without fear of punishment and without having to resort to dangerous abortions."

Previously, abortion was permitted in Colombia if there were serious risks to life or health concerns for pregnant women, or if the pregnancy was a result of incest, rape, or non-consensual artificial insemination. Oftentimes, the criminal penalties in place meant women were forced to avoid legal health centers, opting for underground clinics with far more risk. According to the country's health ministry, about 70 people die each year due to an illegal abortion.

Ardila says that unsafe abortions are the result of the mere presence of abortion in the criminal code, due to the caveats attached to whether or not an abortion would be permitted.

"[This] is especially true for women and girls with limited education, poor women, victims of violence, minority women, and women living in rural areas who often end up seeking abortions later in pregnancy because they lack information, resources, and access to healthcare facilities," Ardila says. "They must not be left out or forgotten."

"Starting now, any woman or girl who needs an abortion and makes a free and informed decision to seek one can go to a healthcare facility to have the procedure done safely, without delays or barriers, and without having to show that she falls under one of the exceptions established 15 years ago, up to week 24," says Ardila.

Colombia's abortion rights movement led by Causa Justa is comprised of over 100 organizations. Credit: Photo by Guillermo Legaria Schweizer/Getty Images.

Research by Causa Justa found that at least 350 women have been convicted or sanctioned for abortions between 2006 and mid-2019. Twenty of these people were girls under the age of 18.

The case from Causa Justa was heard by the court first, but Molina's will be heard at a later date. However, this decision cannot be reversed, according to the NY Times.

"The case has strengthened Colombia’s women's movement and is serving as a reference for allies throughout Latin America litigating on abortion," Ardila says.