Analysis of a Sentence of the Colombian Constitutional Court on the Partial Decriminalization of Abortion

Abstract

This article analyzes the 2006 ruling issued by the Constitutional Court of Colombia, which marked a turning point in the treatment of abortion in Colombia. Prior to this decision, Colombia was among the countries that criminalized abortion under all circumstances. Key contributions of this ruling include the jurisprudential development regarding the difference between life as a constitutionally relevant good and the right to life; the clarification that the unborn child is not entitled to the right to life, although its protection is certainly of constitutional interest; the reaffirmation that a woman's human dignity is expressed, among other elements, in her reproductive autonomy, and therefore she cannot be considered a mere instrument for procreation; and the balancing it performs between the protection of life in gestation and the pregnant woman's right to human dignity, the free development of her personality, and the right to health in connection with the right to life and personal integrity. and the limits that the legislator must observe regarding his legislative power in criminal matters in a Social State of Law.