COLOMBIA-ABORTION-TBs-CEDAW
Concluding Observations on Report 9 (2019) (Link)
Health
37. The Committee takes note of the reduction in the maternal mortality rate but remains concerned about the continued discrepancy in access to health care between urban and rural areas, which has a significant impact on maternal and child mortality rates. The Committee welcomes judgment SU-096/18 of the Constitutional Court, of 17 October 2018, through which the Court reiterated the right to voluntary interruption of pregnancy in the three cases established in judgment C-355 of 2006 and reaffirmed the duty to eliminate the barriers that women encounter in the health system to acquire access to the procedure. It is concerned, however, about reports that service providers question the legality of the procedure, that services are denied without justification, that requests are made for additional documentation not required by the law and that there is a failure to comply with the regulations governing the use of conscientious objection. The Committee welcomes resolution 1904/2017 of the Ministry of Health to ensure informed decisions by persons with disabilities regarding sexual and reproductive rights but is concerned that women with disabilities and women living with HIV/AIDS continue to be victims of forced sterilization. The Committee is also concerned that the official data do not accurately reflect the actual number of abortions carried out in unsafe conditions.
38. In line with its general recommendation No. 24 (1999) on women and health, the Committee calls upon the State party:
(a) To continue increasing the budget allocated to health care and the number of trained health-care providers and medical personnel, including midwives, in particular in rural areas, to ensure access for women to inclusive basic health services and accessible essential obstetric care;
(b) To ensure that women and girls in rural and remote areas, in particular indigenous women and girls and Colombian women and girls of African descent, and including women with disabilities, have equal access to high-quality health care, including through accelerating the implementation of the national plan on rural health and strengthening the implementation of the model of clinical safety for emergency obstetric attention;
(c) In line with judgment C-355 of the Constitutional Court, of 2006, adopt a law legalizing abortion in cases of rape, incest, risk to the physical or mental health or life of the pregnant woman and severe impairment of the fetus and decriminalize abortion in all other cases;
(d) Take legislative steps, as ordered by the Constitutional Court in its judgment SU-096/18 of 17 October 2018, to remove the barriers in the health system encountered by women who seek to access their legal right to abortion under the conditions established by the Constitutional Court in judgment C-355, of 2006;
(e) Put into effect a comprehensive strategy to implement and raise awareness of the protocol for the prevention of unsafe abortion in rural areas, as well as among indigenous persons and Colombians of African descent, taking into account the particular needs of women with disabilities;
(f) Ensure access to appropriate modern birth control methods, in particular long-term methods targeting rural and remote areas;
(g) Ensure that all cases of forced sterilization committed against women and girls with disabilities and women living with HIV/AIDS are duly investigated, that the perpetrators are prosecuted and adequately punished and that any medical procedure is carried out only with the free and informed consent of those concerned, in accordance with international standards;
(h) Ensure that adolescents have access to accurate information about their sexual and reproductive health and rights, including responsible sexual behaviour, the prevention of adolescent pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.
Concluding Observations on Report 7-8 (2013) (Link)
Health
29. The Committee expresses its concern at:
(a) The very limited implementation of Constitutional Court ruling C-355 (2006), which guarantees access to legal abortion under the grounds of life or health risks for the mother, rape and serious malformations of the foetus; the public campaigning against its implementation by high authorities of the State party; and the prevalence of invasive and expensive abortion procedures;
(b) The high number of unsafe abortions and the refusal by health professionals to provide post-abortion services to women;
(c) The high prevalence of teenage pregnancy;
(d) The high rate of childbearing women who use sterilization as a family planning method;
(e) Cases of forced sterilization of women with disabilities and those living with HIV/AIDS.
30. The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Guarantee women’s access to legal abortion by ensuring compliance with Constitutional Court ruling C-355 (2006), developing monitoring and accountability mechanisms, including sanctions, sensitizing the relevant authorities and professionals on health and sexual and reproductive rights; and expanding the availability of medically safe modern abortion methods;
(b) Ensure the provision of post-abortion health-care services for women who have undergone an unsafe abortion;
(c) Effectively implement the Policy on the Prevention of Teenage Pregnancies (2012) and ensure universal access to health services and information on sexual and reproductive health and rights and education, particularly of adolescent girls and boys;
(d) Take measures to decrease the use of sterilization as a family planning method by conducting awareness-raising campaigns on the use of modern reversible contraceptive methods and ensuring their availability for girls and women of childbearing age;
(e) Amend and develop the regulatory framework, as well as guidance provided to medical practitioners, to ensure that sterilization is carried out with the free and informed consent of women, including women with disabilities and those living with HIV/AIDS.
Concluding Observations on Report 5-6 (2007) (Link)
22. While noting the steps taken by the State party to enhance women’s health, including sexual and reproductive health, such as the establishment of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy and decision C-355 of May 2006 of the Constitutional Court, which decriminalized abortion in cases where the pregnancy represents a risk to the life or health of the mother, in cases of serious malformation of the foetus or in cases of rape, the Committee expresses its concern about the high rate of maternal mortality, especially among poor, rural and indigenous and afrodescendent women. The Committee is particularly concerned at the high number of illegal and unsafe abortions and related maternal mortality. It is also concerned that, in practice, women may not have access to legal abortion services, or to guaranteed care for the management of complications arising from illegal and unsafe abortions.
23. The Committee encourages the State party to continue its efforts to enhance women’s access to health care, in particular to sexual and reproductive health services, in accordance with article 12 of the Convention and the Committee’s general recommendation 24 on women and health. It requests the State party to strengthen measures aimed at the prevention of unwanted pregnancies, including by increasing knowledge and awareness about, as well as access to, a range of contraceptives, family planning services for women and girls, and to take measures to ensure that women do not seek unsafe medical procedures, such as illegal abortion, because of lack, or inaccessibility, of appropriate family planning and contraceptive services. The Committee recommends that the State party give priority attention to the situation of adolescents and rural, indigenous and afrodescendent women, and that it provide appropriate sex education with special attention to the prevention of pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, including as part of the regular education curriculum. It urges the State party to ensure that women seeking legal abortions have access to them, including by clarifying the responsibilities of public health service providers. The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to ensure that the regulatory framework and guidelines in place governing access to quality services for the provision of legal abortion services, and for the management of complications arising from illegal and unsafe abortions are applied in practice and that medical and health-care professionals receive adequate training and sensitization on their obligations, so as to reduce women’s maternal mortality rates.
Concluding Observations on Report 4 (1999) (Link)
393. The Committee notes with great concern that abortion, which is the second cause of maternal deaths in Colombia, is punishable as an illegal act. No exceptions are made to that prohibition, including where the mother’s life is in danger or to safeguard her physical or mental health or in cases where the mother has been raped. The Committee is also concerned that women who seek treatment for induced abortions, women who seek an illegal abortion and the doctors who perform them are subject to prosecution. The Committee believes that legal provisions on abortion constitute a violation of the rights of women to health and life and of article 12 of the Convention.
394. The Committee calls upon the Government to consider taking immediate action to provide for derogations from this legislation. Furthermore, it asks the Government to provide regular statistics on maternal mortality by region.
Concluding Observations on Report 2-3 (1994) (Link)
490. In reply to a question about plans to amend the existing laws governing the voluntary termination of pregnancies, the representative said that abortion was still illegal. The last attempt to legalize abortion had been made in 1993, but the draft law had to be set aside because of strong opposition from members of Congress.
492. In additional comments, members said that women in Colombia should fight for the legalization of abortion not in order to reduce births, but in order to protect women from illegal abortions, which resulted in maternal mortality. They said that the problems associated with abortion had not been helped by the Government’s family planning media campaigns and programmes.
Concluding Observations on Report 1 (1987) (Link)
475. Experts asked whether abortion was permitted, what the frequency rate was, how many women died in the process, whether the Colombian Family Welfare Association had achieved any positive results, whether it was subsidized by the State, what the percentage of women was who took advantage of family planning services and what the extent of those services were, as many of them were provided by hospitals run by the Catholic Church.
495. The representative explained that abortion was not permitted; however, women who aborted were not legally prosecuted. Abortions were carried out only in a few private institutions. Family planning advice was received by 60 per cent of all couples, and thus, the annual growth rate of the population could be reduced to 1.5 per cent.
This content was last updated in December 2022