Colombia’s Inspector General’s Office wants to challenge the legitimacy of health insurance provision for legal abortions, newspaper El Espectador reported Thursday.
Via a seven-page document, the Inspector General’s Office raised doubt over the rules surrounding legal abortions, which are permitted in Colombia in extreme circumstances: if the mother’s life is in danger; if the fetus is deformed or if the pregnancy is the result of rape.
The document was published in response to a notice sent by the Health Superintendency on April, 26, which instructed health service providers to include legal abortion in the compulsory health plan.
“The superintendent understands that abortion, in the cases decriminalized by sentence 355 in 2006, constitutes a ‘fundamental right’. Please specify why you think the Health Authority can […] dictate the 15 instructions contained in this notice,” the document stated, as reported by El Espectador.
The document was signed by Ilva Myriam Hoyos, who deals with child, adolescent and family issues. The investigator is known in Colombia as one of the main supporters of Inspector General Alejandro Ordoñez‘ campaign against gay marriage and legal abortion.
A staunch catholic, Ordoñez has frequently challenged pro-choice legislation and is against gay marriage, another controversial topic on Colombia’s political agenda.
Sources
- Aborto legal en EPS, en mira de la Procuraduría (El Espectador)