The Use of Criminal Law on Abortion: A Structural Barrier that Limits Women’s Rights

Abstract

The use of criminal law to limit abortion rights still prevails in most of the legal regimes around Latin America. This particular law reveals the lower value assigned to women’s lives in modern societies and how much the state interferes in women’s freedom and reproductive autonomy. This situation has had an impact on women’s ability to access safe and timely abortion services due to the numerous barriers they face, among other things the criminalization of abortion. This paper develops the arguments that support a recent constitutional claim submitted to the Constitutional Court in Colombia by the Just Cause Movement, demonstrating that abortion crime violates several human rights including equality and freedom and compromises women’s citizenship by undermining their ability to make free decisions about their bodies and their lives.