Much work has been done to identify the factors that protect women from the onset of unwanted pregnancies and abortions, concluding that wide access to education and contraceptive methods are perhaps the most important factors in preventing these events. Analysing the Colombian case in the light of these indicators, we find that 82.0% of women are enrolled in secondary education and 76.9% of women aged 15-49 in the EU use contraceptive methods 7. In addition, there are a number of standards and technical guidelines, as well as a national policy in the area of sexual and reproductive health, whose priorities include the reduction of unwanted pregnancies. This article describes the illegality of abortion in Colombia, whose population is among the world`s 0.4% living in countries where abortion is completely banned. Absolute criminalization makes it a public health problem that creates social inequalities. With regard to reproductive decisions, legislation had always ignored women as individuals and, given a holistic view of sexual and reproductive rights, the draft laws made little reference to “morally unacceptable” situations — pregnancy by rape — or to therapeutic reasons. The contradictions between illegality and reality allow us to maintain a public discourse of rejection of abortion (dominant position of the ecclesiastical hierarchy), while in practice voluntary abortion is resorted to in conditions of security and trust, at least among women from the highest socio-economic strata. This not only creates social inequalities, but also reflects how laws become less important, giving the collective imagination the impression that they are not serving or necessary, weakening the normative function of the state. The case of the Netherlands, where voluntary abortion of pregnancy is not criminalized and is free, where contraceptives are largely affordable and where the abortion rate is the lowest in the world but still exists, is a clear indication of what is said here 10. In this scenario, the role of the state, instead of prohibiting and trying to impose different responses, should be to take measures to combat the public health impact of abortion-related morbidity and mortality and to correct conditions of inequality and inequality.
On the other hand, a culture that, on the one hand, overvalues motherhood and promotes sexuality, but on the other hand condemns and stigmatizes pregnancies that have occurred outside of what is “socially acceptable”, is a culture that indirectly forces the occurrence of abortions. Therefore, it is enough to say that, among other things, for the reasons mentioned above, prevention is not enough, and therefore a more or less important proportion of women must always resort to abortion in order to limit the number of children or exercise rights over their own bodies: avoid pregnancies as a result of rape, save their own lives, if they are at risk of pregnancy, refuse to be a “walking coffin” of fetuses with malformations incompatible with human life, or simply have a child in dignified conditions, both in mental health and socio-economic stability 9. For years, it has been said that 400,000 clandestine abortions are performed every year in Colombia, without any justification or against any evidence. This article compares the validity of this figure. He first examines what the original source could have been, then shows that this premature calculation does not agree with a rigorous 1992 study. Then, check other sources that contradict this figure; Is illegality an instrument of double standards that allows tolerance to avoid public debate? Most of these bills, introduced at the time by Liberal senators, although they aim to move towards the decriminalization of abortion in certain circumstances common to almost all, such as danger to the life or health of the woman, rape and malformations of the fetus, among others, include in their requirements the express authorization of the husband, Apart from the reproductive autonomy of women, which should prevail in these circumstances. Added to this is the obligation to prove rape by a judge, which confirms that in women`s reproductive decisions and in the domination of the territory of their own bodies, the law has always ignored respect for women as human beings and subjects full of rights. Only two of these bills go a little further in proposing to allow abortion even when there are socio-economic conditions that make pregnancy impossible for women when they personally view it that way, and one of them makes it clear in his argument that it is about protecting the life of the woman and not that of the fetus. that it is not subject to active rights. In general, these projects do not start from a comprehensive conception of sexual and reproductive rights, but are usually reduced to therapeutic arguments or “morally unacceptable” situations such as pregnancy by rape. This article deals with the illegality of abortion in Colombia and positions this country among the 0.4% of the world`s population where abortion is completely banned.
The absolute criminalization of abortion makes it a public health issue and creates social inequalities. Colombian legislation has always ignored women as individuals and as persons who are in full possession of their legal rights. In contrast to a comprehensive conceptualization of sexual and reproductive rights, the various abortion laws only refer to “morally unacceptable” situations such as pregnancy as a result of rape or therapeutic reasons. The contradictions between illegality and reality lead to a public discourse that characterizes the rejection of abortion practices in accordance with the dominant attitude of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, while in practice and at the private level, voluntary abortions are used in conditions of safety and confidentiality, at least for women from the upper socio-economic classes. This situation not only causes social inequalities, but also reflects how laws become less important and create the collective impression of being useless or useless, thus undermining the governmental role of the state. The book aims to reflect on the ethical, practical and politico-criminal problems posed by abortion and the protection of prenatal life. The question of whether the fetus has a human life and how to evaluate it is addressed, the conflict of legal rights that come into conflict when a woman wants to terminate her pregnancy, and the due balance of the current situation of abortion in Colombia: between illegality and reality Despite the absolute illegality of abortion in Colombia, at least in some major cities of the country, Women have access to safe and quality quality services, which have found that abortion has gone from the leading cause of maternal mortality in the seventies to the third leading cause in the early years of the twenty-first century. Our hypothesis is therefore that the state of illegality allows us to maintain a public and discursive position of rejection of the practice of abortion in accordance with the dominant position of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, while in practice and at the private level the voluntary termination of pregnancy is used in conditions of safety and trust. At least for women from the highest socio-economic strata.
This situation then paralyzes the debate, makes it “useless” and promotes the coexistence of totally restrictive laws with permissive practices. The situation of abortion in Colombia: between illegality and reality With Colombia, only two other Latin American countries share this dishonorable place, which prohibits abortion in all cases: Chile and El Salvador. The Colombian government and Colombian lawmakers have ignored the numerous international conventions and treaties that advise Colombia to review the absolute criminalization of abortion. Added to this situation of illegality is the reality of abortion as a public health problem, which has been between the second and third leading cause of maternal death in the country for more than a decade. According to statistics from the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), pregnancies ending in abortion account for 16.0% of the causes of maternal death 2. The study The Incidence of Induced Abortion in Colombia shows that 22.9% of all women surveyed between the ages of 15 and 55 said they had at least one experience of induced abortion, noting that although the risk of abortion is high for all ages, “a young woman under the age of 19 is twice as pregnant as a woman over the age of 40: Nearly half of these pregnant girls under the age of 19 have had an abortion. 3.