Colombian President Ivan Duque and other political leaders responded with outrage after the country’s high court issued a Roe v. Wade-like ruling Monday that forces the country to allow the killing of unborn babies in abortions up to 24 weeks.
AFP reports Duque slammed the 5-4 Constitutional Court ruling as “heinous” for decriminalizing abortions on viable, late-term unborn babies.
“Five people (judges) cannot impose on the nation something as heinous as allowing life to be interrupted up to six months” of pregnancy, the president told reporters Tuesday. “We are not talking about a life in gestation, but a life that is already viable.”
Until now, Colombia has protected unborn babies’ right to life in most circumstances. It allowed abortions only in cases of rape and incest or threats to the mother’s life. Most South and Central American countries have strong pro-life Roman Catholic populations that support protecting unborn babies from abortions.
The ruling Monday forces the country to allow the killing of unborn babies in abortions for any reason up to 24 weeks. It was brought about by a series of lawsuits from pro-abortion groups, including the United States-based Center for Reproductive Rights, which told the AP that its goal is “the complete decriminalization of abortion,” meaning abortions without restrictions up to birth.
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Duque and others, however, suggested they may try to overturn the ruling and restore legal protections to unborn babies.
“This situation cannot turn into abortion in Colombia becoming a contraceptive mechanism. We must address this discussion in the body that truly competes, which is the Congress of the Republic,” the president told reporters.
According to AFP, “The legislature can theoretically overturn the court decision, though it will need a majority to do so, and has avoided debating the matter for years.”
Other Colombian political leaders also have been speaking out against the pro-abortion ruling.
“The decision on abortion violates the right to life of the unborn, the most defenseless. We Colombians who respect life from conception will seek through a referendum to straighten out what the Constitutional Court has done today,” Sen. María del Rosario Guerra wrote on Twitter Monday.
Another pro-life lawmaker, Sen. Paola Holguin, criticized the court for legalizing the “murder” of a defenseless child.
“Abortion is nothing different from the murder of a defenseless being by its mother in the womb; which goes against the fundamental right to life, enshrined in article 11 of the National Constitution,” Holguin wrote on Twitter. “#AbortoEs (abortion is) the murder of an innocent that denatures a mother. Life is always the best option, it is a fundamental and sacred right,” she continued.
And Rafael Nieto Loaiza, a lawyer and former vice minister of the interior and justice, slammed the ruling as a “usurpation” of Congress.
“The decision of @CConstitucional on abortion is a political position without constitutional support; usurpation of functions of Congress; demonstration of ideologization, judicial activism and government of the judges. A shame! In addition, life had to be protected, not cut off,” he wrote on Twitter.
Abortion activists and rich globalists have been targeting South and Central American countries’ pro-life laws for years, and several countries have caved into the pressure.
Argentina legalized abortions in late 2020, and Ecuador passed a pro-abortion bill last week. Additionally, the Mexico Supreme Court issued a ruling last year that pro-life advocates fear will be used to legalize the killing of unborn babies nation-wide in the coming months.
In 2020, human rights groups across Central and South America accused the United Nations of pressuring their countries to legalize the killing of unborn babies in abortions during the coronavirus crisis.
Legalizing abortion does not save lives or help women. Abortions destroy unborn babies’ lives and often harm mothers physically and/or psychologically. Pro-abortion groups often overestimate the number of illegal and unsafe abortions that occur in countries across the world. Growing research also indicates that access to basic health care, not abortion, is what really improves women’s lives.
