Bogotá, Colombia, May 10, 2006 / 22:00 pm
Ina decision which the Colombian bishops lament has come on “a sad day for Colombia”, the country’s Constitutional Court--equivalent to the U.S. Supreme Court--has legalized the practice of abortion.
In ruling issued late Wednesday, the Court legalized abortion in three circumstances. From now on, it will no longer be a crime in Colombia to end the life of an unborn child in cases of rape, fetal deformation or when the mother or child are “at risk.”
With their ruling, the majority liberal Court struck down three articles of Colombia’s Penal Code, which punished those who procured or assisted in procuring abortion with up to seven years of prison. The 5-3 vote was are sounding victory for the powerful anti-life lobby in Colombia led by attorney Monica Roa and supported by pro-abortion forces in the United States.
Last December,the justices refused to hear a case filed by Roa to legalize abortion, but in their decision they left the door open to future re-consideration.
Roa brought the case before the Court again and after lengthy legal battles spanning several months Colombian citizens overwhelmingly expressed their opposition to abortion. The Constitutional Court however, decided to legalize the practice nonetheless.
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