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Monica Roa

The Colombian Procurador — the official in charge of monitoring human rights in public actions — with financial help from U.S.-funded Plan Colombia, has unleashed a campaign against women’s reproductive rights, including abortion and emergency contraception. Monica Roa, the Colombian lawyer who argued — and won — the case to recognize abortion as a sexual and reproductive right in Colombia, discusses the revived debate on the topic:  

In the fall of last year, Colombian Procurador Alejandro Ordoñez announced to the country that the government-issued guidelines for abortion provision were suspended. Around the same time, he voiced his disagreement with the Colombian Constitutional Court’s October 2009 ruling on conscientious objection, which among other things, reiterated that:

• Members of the judiciary are not allowed to rule based on their personal beliefs;
• Teenage girls have the right to make their own decisions about whether or not to have an abortion;
• Medical professionals must strictly guarantee confidentiality;
• Public officials must include education on the circumstances in which abortion is legal in educational institutions and in sexual and reproductive health programs.  

And in December 2009, he shifted his focus to emergency contraception and called for its removal from the market, claiming incorrectly that it causes abortions.

Ordoñez’s actions have resulted in total confusion about the legality of abortion services in Colombia — confusion that comes at a high cost to the human rights of women. The media, for example, has reported incorrectly that abortion is no longer legal, and health professionals are unsure how to proceed with abortion provision because the guidelines have been suspended.

His appointed Procuradora for the Defense of the Human Rights of Children, Adolescents and the Family, Ylva Myriam Hoyos, is also a threat to women’s reproductive rights.  She was vehemently opposed to the 2006 Constitutional Court’s abortion decision that decriminalized abortion in cases of rape, incest, and threat to the life of the woman or fetus, presented the court with 47 briefs to express her opposition, and requested that the decision be nullified. She also wrote several books and articles criticizing the decision and clearly stated her personal commitment against the decision.

With these two anti-choice leaders at the helm, the opinion from within the Procuraduria about a woman’s right to safe abortion is clear.

The U.S. public, its government and representatives must be made aware that U.S. funding for the protection of human rights is being used by the Procuraduría to threaten the fundamental reproductive rights of Colombian women. The recent attempts to undermine sexual and reproductive rights in Colombia are only the tip of a very dangerous iceberg.

To express your concern about how the Procurador in Colombia is using human rights funding from the United States, contact:

Ambassador Bill Brownfield

U.S. Embassy Bogotá
AmbassadorB@state.gov

Monica Roa is programs director at Women's Link Worldwide. She received her law degree from the University of Los Andes, Bogotá and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Global Public Service Law from New York University.  She is the author of several books and academic publications on sexual and reproductive rights.

 

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