Abortion-rights advocates hope a video campaign can help tip Colombia’s court

Colombia's Constitutional Court is expected to rule in the coming weeks on whether to legalize abortion. Can social media sway justices, as well as public opinion?

WLRN 91.3 FM | By Tim Padgett
Published October 26, 2021

In the coming weeks, Colombia’s highest constitutional court, La Corte Constitucional, is expected to rule — for the second time in less than two years — on whether to legalize abortion in that country.

Abortion is permitted in Colombia only in cases of rape or incest, severe fetal malformation or if there's a threat to the pregnant person's life. Abortion-rights advocates say they’re confident the court this time will decide to allow any abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.wlrn.org/news/2021-10-26/abortion-rights-advocates-hope-a-video-campaign-can-help-tip-colombias-court

Colombia was close to legalizing abortion. Instead, a top court kept restrictions in place.

Colombia was close to legalizing abortion. Instead, a top court kept restrictions in place.

By Miriam Berger
March 3, 2020

Colombia’s constitutional court ruled Monday to keep the country’s abortion restrictions in place, dashing the hopes of activists pushing for a decision that could have made it the first and most populous state in Latin America to legalize abortions during the first 16 weeks of a pregnancy.

The decision “was a missed opportunity to stand on the right side of history to provide Colombian women and girls safe access to abortion,” human rights lawyer Paula Avila-Guillen said in a statement. She described the current law as “poorly regulated and rarely implemented,” such that for “women who have been victims of sexual abuse or face economic barriers, access to abortion is almost impossible, which puts their lives at risk.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/03/03/colombia-was-close-legalizing-abortion-instead-top-court-kept-restrictions-place/

An Anti-Abortion Activist Tried to Make Colombia’s Abortion Law More Restrictive. Here’s Why That Could Backfire

An Anti-Abortion Activist Tried to Make Colombia's Abortion Law More Restrictive. Here's Why That Could Backfire

By Ciara Nugent
February 19, 2020

A case brought to Colombia’s top court by anti-abortion campaigner Natalia Bernal Cano could transform the country’s abortion law when the verdict is announced in the next few weeks – but perhaps not in the way she hoped.

Since a 2006 ruling by Colombia’s powerful Constitutional Court, women have been allowed to terminate a pregnancy in cases of rape or incest, fatal fetal abnormality, or danger to the physical or mental health of the mother.

Continued: https://time.com/5786500/colombia-abortion-ruling/

Colombia’s Upcoming Abortion Ruling Could Have A Big Impact On Latin America

Colombia's Upcoming Abortion Ruling Could Have A Big Impact On Latin America

By Tim Padgett
Feb 17, 2020

Colombia’s highest court is about to issue a ruling that could return the country to a total ban on abortion – or bring it in line with Roe v. Wade, the decision that legalized abortion in the U.S. Either way, because Colombia is one of the region's largest and more culturally influential countries, the decision could have a profound effect on abortion rights in Latin America.

The region already has some of the world’s strictest abortion laws – and now people on both sides of the debate hope a recent – and admittedly unusual – case will affirm their agendas.

Continued: https://www.wlrn.org/post/colombias-upcoming-abortion-ruling-could-have-big-impact-latin-america#stream/0

Colombia to decide on historic abortion ruling

Colombia to decide on historic abortion ruling

ELLA TORRES
February 16, 2020

Fourteen years after Colombia's landmark decision to legalize abortions in some cases, the country is once more bracing itself for a historic vote.

The Colombian Constitutional Court has until Feb. 19th to decide whether it will legalize abortion for pregnancies up to 12 weeks. The current law allows for abortion in only three instances: if the mother's life is at risk, if a fetus is malformed or if the pregnancy is a result of rape.

This is the "first real opportunity to actually advance reproductive rights," according to Paula Avila-Guillen, the director of Latin America Initiatives for the Women's Equality Center.

Continued: https://news.yahoo.com/colombia-decide-historic-abortion-ruling-120633539--abc-news-topstories.html