PRI: U.S. conservative groups ramp up influence in Colombia amid abortion debate
“…40 days for Life, an international movement that started in Texas in 2007, … conducts vigils outside abortion clinics in more than 60 countries. The movement claims that its protests have helped to shut down 106 abortion clinics around the world. And it has been ramping up activities in Colombia — where, on Monday, March 2, the constitutional court reviewed the option of giving women full access to the procedure until the fourth month of pregnancy — but ultimately decided to table the vote…” (Rueda, 3/3).

Washington Post: Colombia was close to legalizing abortion. Instead, a top court kept restrictions in place.
“Colombia’s constitutional court ruled Monday to keep the country’s abortion restrictions in place, dashing the hopes of activists pushing for a decision that could have made it the first and most populous state in Latin America to legalize abortions during the first 16 weeks of a pregnancy. … The last time the country of nearly 50 million came close to a major change on abortion rights was in 2006, when the top court legalized abortion in three cases: a pregnancy resulting from rape, a risk to the mother’s life, or a malformed fetus…” (Berger, 3/3).