Resumen
In 2006, a challenge against the articles of the Criminal Code was filed before the Colombian Constitutional Court –hereinafter “the Court”– for the second time in the eighteen years of the Court’s short history The challenged provisions of the Criminal Code established abortion as a crime punishable without exception. The decision issued by the Court was considered as “historic” landmark in which the Court decided not to consider abortion as crime in three specific circumstances: (i) when the continuation of the pregnancy presents risks to the life or the health of the woman, as certified by a medical doctor; (ii) when there are serious malformations of the fetus incompatible with life outside the womb, as certified by a medical doctor; and (iii) when the pregnancy is the result of any of the following criminal acts, duly reported to the proper authorities: incest, rape, sexual abuse, or artificial insemination or implantation of a fertilized ovule without the woman’s consent.