The judges of the Constitutional Court of Colombia will vote in the coming days whether abortion should be removed from the list of crimes included in the country’s Penal Code, based on a debate that could start this Wednesday (3). The first discussion on the matter is the sixth item on the court’s agenda tomorrow, but sources indicate it is uncertain whether there will be time for that to happen. Anyway, the Plenary of the Constitutional Court has to make a decision on the matter by the next 19th.
Abortion has been allowed in Colombia since 2006, by a resolution of the same court, only for three cases: when there is a risk to the mother’s ear health, when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or if there is malformation of the fetus. In other cases, according to article 52 of the Colombian Penal Code, women (or anyone involved in an abortion) can be sentenced to up to 54 months in prison.
In order to judge the constitutionality of abortion, there are currently two lawsuits filed in the Court, which are expected to be evaluated at once in the next few days, according to sources at the court. For the interruption of pregnancy to be decriminalized in the country, it will be necessary the favorable vote of five of the nine judges of the Constitutional Court, in any of the actions presented. Last year, a discussion began for the complete removal of abortion rights from the Penal Code, which was supported by only three of the judges.
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