97

ABORTION POLICY

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CONTEXT

Colombia

Grounds on which abortion is permitted

To save the life of the woman Yes*

To preserve physical health NoTo preserve mental health NoRape or incest NoFoetal impairment NoEconomic or social reasons NoAvailable on request No

Additional requirements

An abortion requires the woman's consent.

*The abortion law does not expressly allow abortions to be performed to save the life of the woman, but the general principles of criminal legislation allow abortions to be performed for this reason on grounds of necessity.

Government view of fertility level: Too high

Government intervention concerning fertility level: To lower

Government policy on contraceptive use: Direct support provided

Percentage of currently married women using modern contraception (aged 15-49, 1995): 72

Total fertility rate (1995-2000): 2.8

Age-specific fertility rate (per 1,000 women aged 15-19, 1995-2000): 88

Government has expressed particular concern about:Morbidity and mortality resulting from induced abortion YesComplications of childbearing and childbirth Yes

Maternal mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births; 1990):National 100South America 200

Female life expectancy at birth (1995-2000): 74

Source: The Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references.

98

BACKGROUND

Colombia

Abortion in Colombia is governed by provisions of the Penal Code of 1980. Under Articles 343-345 of the Code, no exceptions are stated to the general prohibition against abortion. Nonetheless, under general principles of criminal law, an abortion can be performed to save the life of the pregnant woman. Penalties for illegal abortions vary according to the circumstances in which the abortion is performed. A woman who causes her own abortion or allows another person to cause it, as well as a person performing an abortion with the consent of the woman, is subject to one to three years’ imprisonment. The punishment is greater when the abortion is performed without the consent of the woman or when the woman is under 14 years of age. In these cases, the person performing the abortion is subject to three to ten years’ imprisonment.

The language of the Penal Code of 1980 follows closely that of the Penal Code of 1936; the 1936 Code had eliminated a previously expressed exception to the general prohibition of abortion when this procedure was absolutely necessary to save the pregnant woman’s life. The major change introduced by the 1980 Code was the removal of reduced penalties, including pardon, when the abortion was performed to save the honour of the woman. In their place, the 1980 Code inserted provisions allowing for reduced penalties to be imposed on a woman who caused her own abortion or allowed it be caused when she had became pregnant as a result of violent or abusive sexual relations or through artificial insemination performed on her without her consent. In these cases, she is subject to four months’ to one year’s imprisonment.

Since the enactment of the 1980 Code, a number of attempts have been made to liberalize its provisions on abortion, the most recent of them in 1997 as part of a larger law on sexual and reproductive health proposed by a Colombian legislator. At the same time, those opposed to the performance of abortions have introduced legislation to increase the penalties for illegal abortions. None of the proposed legislation has achieved any success.

Two individuals have also attempted to change the abortion provisions of the Penal Code of Colombia through the medium of the courts. Their actions were made possible by the 1991 Constitution, which significantly expanded the opportunities for court challenges to existing legislation. One sought to have the provisions of the Code prohibiting abortions declared unconstitutional for violating the constitutional rights of couples to freely and responsibly determine the number of their children and the rights to freedom of conscience and religion. The other sought to have provisions of the Code authorizing reduced penalties for abortion in cases of rape, abusive sexual relations, or forced artificial insemination declared unconstitutional as violating the constitutional right to life. The Constitutional Court denied relief in both suits, and in the process forcefully rejected the idea of legalized abortion in Colombia.

Despite the current restrictions on abortion in Colombia, it is widely practised. Although official abortion statistics are not available after 1974, it was estimated that, in 1975, 18 per cent of all pregnancies ended in illegal abortion. Estimates in the late 1980s placed this figure at 25 per cent. In addition, 60 per cent of all maternal deaths in the late 1980s in Colombia resulted from induced abortion. However, prosecution for unlawful abortion is relatively rare.

Although the National Constitution of 1991 includes an article about the human right to family planning, services provided by the Government were marginal until recent years. However, the Colombian Basic Health Care Plan, compulsory until 2000, contains reproductive health services such as maternal/perinatal care and family planning, including a wide range of contraceptive methods. To

Source: The Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references.

99

Colombia

complement this plan, a new sexual and reproductive health policy was approved in 1998 which aims, among other things, at reducing maternal mortality as well as the number of deaths due to illegal abortions. To achieve this goal, the plan intends to regulate emergency care services, improve the capacity to respond in case of complications and ensure timely hospitalization and care. Sex education for adolescents was made compulsory in 1993. However, no regulations or reproductive health care programmes specifically target adolescents. The Colombian Association for Family Well-being (Asociación Pro-Bienestar de la Familia Colombiana/PROFAMILIA) is an important provider of family planning services, accounting for some 70 percent of family planning services nationwide as of 1995.

Source: The Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references.