Lockdown in Colombia will affect the right to abortion

   Although necessary for the health protection of citizens, measures taken by the Colombian government to contain the COVID-19 infection, including the national lockdown and closing the borders, may hinder the access of Colombian and Venezuelan women to services that are essential to their sexual and reproductive health.

   “In times of pandemic, women will still require the services necessary for accessing safe abortions, emergency contraception, and protection from sexual violence and abuse,” Selene Soto, a lawyer from the Women’s Link Worldwide organization in Bogota, told Global Voices.

   In Colombia, abortion is legal on three grounds: a serious fetal malformation, a risk to the life and health of the mother, and rape. Despite past court rulings upholding this right, there is still a lack of access to information, as well as social and economic barriers, that prevent women and girls, especially in poor and remote regions, from terminating their pregnancies safely. If abortion takes place outside of those three exceptions, it is illegal and punishable with one up to three years in prison. With the lockdown, many women, especially the poorest and those in rural regions, might avoid seeking legal and healthcare guidance concerning their pregnancy and unnecessarily undergo unsafe abortions at home.

   For Soto, “if the emergency health policies and decrees are not designed within a human rights framework or from a gender perspective, many women will be at risk and unprotected.”

Colombia is in national lockdown until April 13 and this may be extended. At the time of writing this story, there were 798 confirmed COVID-19 cases and the number is rising. The government is only allowing the movement of people in exceptional circumstances, including stocking up on food and going to health facilities, among others, but the right to sexual and reproductive health is not mentioned.

   Those who fail to comply with these mandatory lockdown isolation measures could be punished with fines, or up to 8 years imprisonment.

  “These exceptions must explicitly include services that make it possible to maintain and guarantee access to sexual and reproductive health,” says Selene Soto.  “And not just access to abortion, but also to emergency contraception and access to health for women who are victims of sexual violence”.

For example, Soto says that if a woman in a remote region needs an abortion and this requires a transfer to a care center in another city, this case will need administrative procedures and safe conduct passes that may not be arranged in time. This situation has a direct impact on the possibility of terminating unwanted pregnancies on time and could force women to undergo unsafe abortions, thus worsening their risk of death. 

   Although the figures aren't clearly specified, it is estimated that each year, an average of 400,000 women in Colombia undergo unsafe abortions and 70 women die because of these procedures.

“During this time of humanitarian emergencies, the continuance of [the right to abortion under the three conditions] must be guaranteed”, says Soto.

(SAYS HUMAN RIGHTS LAYER)