New Presidency in Colombia: What Challenges Do Our Sexual and Reproductive Rights Face?

NEW PRESIDENCY IN COLOMBIA:

WHAT CHALLENGES DO OUR SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS FACE?

The challenges facing the new administration in Colombia in the area of women’s and LGBTIQ+ persons’ sexual and reproductive health (SRH) relate to services and guarantees, not to setbacks and advancement.

TEXT AND PHOTO: FUNDACIÓN ORIÉNTAME

O

n June 19, 2022, Colombia elected an Afro-descendent woman as the first Black woman Vice President of the republic, while at the same time electing Gustavo Petro Urrego as the first leftist politician to hold the office of the presidency. This election, which marks a precedent in the history of the country, without a doubt has multiple impacts on social, political, economic, cultural, and environmental life in Colombia, for despite various positive aspects of the administration’s proposed agenda for its first year in office, controversy has also erupted over proposed changes to various departments, including healthcare, which has been named a priority for discussion and reform.

Of course, healthcare reform will destabilize the system and requires discussions about sexual and reproductive health services, especially when considering how the outgoing administration, including the former president and vice president, have publicly opposed the recent legislative progress in sexual and reproductive rights. In a way, they have encouraged and supported the suits that individuals or institutions have filed seeking to force the Constitutional Court to overturn Ruling C-055 decriminalizing abortion in all cases up till the twenty-fourth week of gestation.

Among other things, the new administration faces a bleak public health outlook in sexual and reproductive health, with high rates of gender-based violence, teen pregnancy, and maternal mortality, which reflect the worrisome effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the priorities of the 2030 agenda with respect to women and LGBTIQ+ individuals; situations which merit special attention from the leftist and egalitarian government the Historic

Gains made in sexuality and rights must be respected during the transition toward a new healthcare model.

Young people in Pereira trained in dignified menstrual health.

The new administration must support the progress made in legislation by creating regulations to govern the application and oversight of Sentence C-055 of 2022.

Pact proports to be. These situations include at least three urgent issues:

1. Support for sexual and reproduc-

tive rights: This means continuing in line with legislative progress, which requires establishing regulations for the application of and compliance with Ruling C-055 of 2022. Likewise, it requires greater supervision of health institutions at every level, in both cities and rural areas, to ensure that they comply with procedures for the voluntary termination of pregnancy (VTP) included in the maternal and prenatal Comprehensive Health Care Route (RIAS for its initials in Spanish), with special emphasis on the departments with excluded and impoverished populations, where the highest levels

of maternal mortality, childhood and adolescent pregnancy, and early and forced marriage are reported.

2. Respecting gains in sexuality and rights during the transition toward a new health-

care model: Thanks to the battles waged by feminist organizations and movements, people have certain guaranteed rights to SRH services which must be safeguarded to ensure there are no roll backs in their coverage or availability. Advances must be made in strengthening a sexual and reproductive health public policy that increases: access to birth control; training for healthcare providers; and digital literacy and access to technology and its tools so that people in rural areas are better able to make appointments and download their clinical histories and authorizations. This policy must also include: rolling out comprehensive sexual education prioritized within educational curricula; developing a national healthcare system that benefits women in different contexts; and implementing sexuality training programs that offer tools to help individuals make decisions autonomously and with self-care, sexual-emotional responsibility, and an enjoyment of physical pleasure, including in rural areas, where childhood and teen pregnancy has increased.

3. Promoting coordination among institutions, organizations, and individ-

uals with the Ministry of Equality, and overseeing the inclusion of and service for marginalized populations in human and sexual and reproductive rights. FM

References

https://es-la.facebook.com/OrientameFundacion/

https://www.instagram.com/fundacion.orientame/?hl=es

Punto D’s social media (strategy to prevent unwanted pregnancy and gender-based violence): https://www. instagram.com/p/CYhvY8ZLbt9/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY%3D

https://orientame.org.co/prevencion-embarazo-adolescente/