Colombia attorney general calls for reversal of abortion ruling

Bogotá, Colombia, Apr 3, 2012 / 15:05 pm

The attorney general in Colombia urged the country’s Constitutional Court to overturn an appeal's court ruling allowing an abortion to be performed on a minor girl.

A March 31 statement released by the official rejected a ruling by Colombia’s Eight Circuit Court of Appeals which reversed a lower court ruling denying a woman the right to subject her minor daughter to an abortion.

The attorney general argued that the appeals court violated due process because the subject of the ruling – the unborn child – had actually already been born before the ruling was even issued, and that therefore it no longer made any legal sense to rule in favor of the abortion.

The statement also pointed out that the girl’s medical records indicated that the pregnancy “was accepted by the girl, her boyfriend and their parents and that they wanted the child,” and that they were “falsely informed that the baby would be born with deformities and that the birth could happen at any moment, causing her anguish and worry.”

A pro-life advocate in Colombia told CNA that the ruling by the appeals court is part of an overall strategy to get the country to legalize abortion. 

“This is all part of the effort to have abortion declared a supposedly 'fundamental right,'” said a source who requested anonymity, adding that the ruling seeks to “set a new precedent.”