Abortion in Bolivia

{{Short description|None}} '''Abortion in Bolivia''' is illegal, except in the cases of rape, incest, or to protect the woman's health,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ipas.org/en/Where-We-Work/The-Americas/Bolivia.aspx|title=IPAS Bolivia|publisher=[[Ipas (organization)]]|access-date=16 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223103638/http://www.ipas.org/en/Where-We-Work/The-Americas/Bolivia.aspx|archive-date=23 February 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> forming part of the Penal Code laid down in 1973, and has been in force since then. Due to the difficulty of receiving abortions—even if the abortion does fall under one of the exceptions to the law, judicial permission needs to be secured, which can take a very long time—many pregnant women end up having unsafe, clandestine abortions instead. According to the Bolivian Ministry of Health, almost all of the 67,000 abortions performed in [[Bolivia]] in 2011 were clandestine, with approximately half of the women who received them needing hospital care afterwards.<ref name="kane">{{cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/06/after-jailing-women-bolivia-weighs-legalizing-abortion/277147/|title=After Jailing Women, Bolivia Weighs Legalizing Abortion|last=Kane|first=Gillian|date=24 June 2013|publisher=The Atlantic|access-date=17 February 2014}}</ref> This practice has been linked to the high maternal mortality rates in the country.<ref name = "Castellanos">{{cite news|url=http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2008/11/28/legal-abortion-care-bolivia-often-denied/|title=Legal Abortion Care in Bolivia Often Denied|last=Castellanos|first=Angela|publisher=RH Reality Check|access-date=17 February 2014}}</ref>

Efforts were made to change the law in 2005, when [[Plurinational Legislative Assembly|legislators]] from the [[Movement for Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples|Movement for Socialism]] introduced a bill to legalise abortion, but it was quickly rejected.<ref name = "Castellanos"/> In 2013, four years after the introduction of [[Constitution of Bolivia|Bolivia's new constitution]], [[Patricia Mancilla]] began a legal challenge calling for the [[Plurinational Constitutional Court]] to declare many provisions of the Penal Code, including the anti-abortion legislation, unconstitutional.<ref name="kane"/>

On 6 December 2017, [[Plurinational Legislative Assembly|Bolivia's National Assembly]] voted to decriminalize abortion before eight weeks of pregnancy for "students, adolescents, or girls". Although the legislation does not specify an age limit, it is considered to apply to girls of age 17 or lower. Health Minister [[Ariana Campero]] supported this legislation as a measure to reduce the maternal mortality rate, and President [[Evo Morales]] signed the reform into law on 15 December 2017.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bolivia lawmakers vote to ease right abortion restrictions|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/bolivia-lawmakers-vote-ease-abortion-limits-51617857|access-date=15 December 2017|work=ABC News|date=6 December 2017}}</ref> However, the reform law was repealed in its entirety on 27 January 2018 in response to protests about its provisions criminalizing medical malpractice.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eldeber.com.bo/santacruz/Evo-entierra-el-nuevo-Codigo-Penal-y-ahora-la-protesta-se-centra-en-el-respeto-al-voto-20180127-0003.html|title=Evo entierra el nuevo Código Penal y ahora la protesta se centra en el respeto al voto|last=Ortiz|first=Pablo|date=January 27, 2018|website=El Deber|access-date=2018-04-08|archive-date=2019-09-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190924033956/http://www.eldeber.com.bo/santacruz/Evo-entierra-el-nuevo-Codigo-Penal-y-ahora-la-protesta-se-centra-en-el-respeto-al-voto-20180127-0003.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==See also== *[[Abortion law]] *[[Reproductive rights in Latin America]]

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Abortion in South America|Bolivia]] [[Category:Abortion by country|Bolivia]] [[Category:Healthcare in Bolivia]] [[Category:Women in Bolivia]]