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Hundreds of thousands march for life in Colombia to protest decriminalisation of abortion

Hundreds of thousands of pro-lifers gathered across Colombia last month to march for life, to protest a recent decision by the country's Constitutional Court to decriminalise abortion until the sixth month of pregnancy. 

Earlier this year, the Constitutional Court of Colombia voted 5-4 to decriminalise abortion up until the 24th week of pregnancy. Now, a woman in Colombia can undergo an abortion for any reason with no restrictions until the sixth month of pregnancy. Beyond that, abortion is only permitted in cases of rape, a disability, or if the mothers' life is in danger, despite doctors having previously said that abortion is not necessary to save the mothers' life. 

CNA report that on 27th February, approximately 500,000 people gathered across 70 cities in Colombia to march for life, a a form of protest to reject the recent decision by the Constitutional Court, and was attended by all the countries pro-life associations, as well as a variety of religious groups. 

Pro-life organisation, United for Life, said that the march took place in an atmosphere of “great distress and indignation but at the same time of joy and enthusiasm.” The organisation have called for the removal of the five judges who voted in favour of the new abortion law, claiming it to be an abuse of power. In a statement, they said: “their immediate resignation is being demanded and that the ruling be annulled because it goes against Article 11 of the Constitution, international accords and treaties, and the Court’s own jurisprudence.”

The pro-life group also presented a “Manifesto for the Defense of Life” to the public during the march, saying that the Colombian people "are hurt, in great pain, because they don’t accept these five people imposing on the country a death sentence,” and that Colombia "will not rest until the right to life is restored and guaranteed from the moment of fertilization until natural death."

“The Colombian people will fight for this disastrous ruling to be annulled. We will use all the legal, political, cultural and social means that the rule of law offers us to precisely restore the right to life, which has been systematically violated by the rulings of the Constitutional Court for decades.”

“We welcome mothers who are going through unexpected or difficult pregnancies and we demand that they be given all the information and support from the State through public policies that allow them to carry their pregnancy to a successful conclusion,” the manifesto continues. It calls on the country "to rethink the role and function of the Constitutional Court, which has become a body which breaks the balance of powers, destroys the democratic system, constantly and without limits distorts the Constitution that it swore to protect, thus betraying the reason for which it was created, which is fundamentally to safeguard it.”

“Colombia is a country that loves and respects life, that doesn’t want new violence worked up in the offices of the Constitutional Court, especially which allows and promotes the massacre of our unborn babies. We will continue to mobilize until this massacre is stopped,” the manifesto concluded.

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