Four years after the Constitutional Court of Colombia decriminalized abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy through the landmark Ruling C-055 of 2022, the country is taking stock of sexual and reproductive rights. Each February marks not only the court’s decision, but also the social, political, and public health transformations that have accompanied this recently consolidated right.
For many pregnant people, this right meant moving from a punitive framework that criminalized voluntary termination of pregnancy outside three very specific grounds to one in which autonomy and public health take center stage in a debate that remains ongoing.
Decriminalization has also brought figures that point to a concrete change in the lives of thousands of people. Since its implementation, organizations such as Profamilia—a private entity that advocates for sexual and reproductive rights in Colombia—have recorded a sustained increase in safe medical care related to voluntary termination of pregnancy, with 213,895 procedures carried out nationwide since 2022.
For advocates of women’s right to decide over their own bodies, these figures underscore not only the existing demand for reproductive health services, but also the importance of having legal and safe pathways to access them, in contrast to decades during which thousands of women turned to clandestine services that put their lives and well-being at risk.
Four years after abortion was decriminalized in Colombia: 213,000 safe procedures
Official health reports reproduced by entities such as Profamilia reveal a clear trend: access to safe abortions has steadily increased, and most procedures are performed early and through medication-based methods. In 2025 alone, 59,532 voluntary terminations of pregnancy were provided, and 94.5% of these took place before the 12th week of gestation, reflecting a strong preference for safe and timely treatment in early stages.
This predominance of early procedures is significant in the context of those who opposed decriminalization, arguing that a 24-week limit could encourage later interventions. The evidence collected so far shows that this has not been the prevailing trend.
Moreover, only around 1% of the cases attended involved pregnancies beyond 24 weeks, and these occurred under the three grounds that were in effect before the ruling and that still apply beyond that time limit: fetal malformation incompatible with life, risk to the pregnant person’s health, or pregnancy resulting from sexual violence.
But behind these numbers lie complex realities. Geographic and socioeconomic access to health services continues to mark deep differences. In remote regions, shaped by economic inequality or armed conflict, administrative barriers, limited health resources, and a lack of adequate information continue to restrict the full exercise of the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy under safe and dignified conditions. Reproductive rights organizations warn that without robust public policies linking education, medical services, and guaranteed access across the entire territory, these gaps will persist.
Abortion in Colombia until February 2022
Until February 2022, abortion in Colombia was regulated under a restrictive model that classified it as a crime in the Penal Code, except in three specific circumstances established by the Corte Constitucional de Colombia in a 2006 ruling. For nearly sixteen years, that decision defined the legal limits of voluntary termination of pregnancy and shaped the public debate on reproductive rights in the country.
The decision allowed abortion when continuing the pregnancy posed a risk to the life or health of the woman, with the latter also understood in its mental dimension; when there was a fetal malformation incompatible with life outside the womb; and when the pregnancy was the result of rape, incest, or non-consensual insemination. Outside of these circumstances, the act remained punishable, generating fear of legal proceedings for both women and medical personnel.
Although the 2006 ruling was considered progress at the time, in practice access was surrounded by obstacles. Social organizations documented unjustified delays, requirements for additional conditions not contemplated by the Court, widespread conscientious objections, and geographic barriers that especially affected rural and low-income women. In many cases, applicants had to file tutela actions to be guaranteed a procedure that, in theory, was legal.
This restrictive conception of abortion remained in force until four years ago, when the high court decriminalized a practice that had been widely demanded socially, with the aim of moving a practice that was likewise carried out clandestinely in the country into the realm of the law.
Between progress and resistance: the cultural and political battle
The decriminalization of abortion up to 24 weeks has not been free of political and social tensions. In different parts of the country, local initiatives have sought to establish additional protocols or requirements that, for some sectors, represent disguised obstacles to the effective exercise of the right.
In Bogotá, for example, a draft agreement approved by the City Council that proposed requirements such as prior psychological evaluations was challenged by Mayor Carlos Galán and denounced by social organizations for its potentially restrictive impact, sending the bill back to legislative debate.
#Entérate El alcalde Carlos Fernando Galán objeto el proyecto de Acuerdo 340 aprobado por el Concejo, porque era inconstitucional e ilegal, como lo advertimos varias organizaciones feministas
¡Juntas somos más, juntas, juntas lo logramos! 👇🏽 pic.twitter.com/Ab0roqp0Jd— Casa de la Mujer (@casa_la) February 21, 2026
Beyond local legislative debates, abortion has become a central issue in electoral discussions, amplifying conflicting positions within Colombian society. Some conservative sectors have continued to question the ruling and have even raised the need to reconsider its scope, while feminist and human rights groups have used the anniversary to demand not only legal protection of the right, but also its implementation without additional hurdles.
Demonstrations with green scarves in major cities have been evidence of a social mobilization that still sees this achievement as a stepping stone toward broader reproductive rights.
On this fourth anniversary, the balance of abortion decriminalization in Colombia is at once a story of significant progress and of pending challenges. The figures on safe access speak of protected lives and of a demand that has found a response in formal health services.
But they also reveal that, for many pregnant people, the promise of full and barrier-free care remains a goal yet to be achieved. The public conversation continues, and with it, the search for solutions that guarantee the health, autonomy, and dignity of all people in a diverse and constantly evolving country.