Bogotá, Colombia, Mar 3, 2020 / 16:06 pm
Colombia's Constitutional Court ruled Monday to maintain the country's status quo on abortion, neither banning the practice entirely nor legalizing elective abortion up to 16 weeks.
The court maintained its 2006 decision that legalized abortion on the grounds of risk to the life of the mother, rape, and fetal deformities.
In its 6-3 decision March 2, the court declined to rule on two lawsuits brought before it in January by law professor Natalia Bernal, which sought to outlaw abortion entirely.Bernal argued abortion violates the rights of unborn children and of women, and amounts to torture.
The majority said that Bernal had "not presented sufficient arguments" to justify reconsidering the 2006 decision, and her petition was characterized by "substantial ineptitude."