A further analysis of last year's controversial judgment of the Constitutional Court of Colombia legalizing abortion in some circumstances shows how UN compliance committees have taken an extreme view regarding abortion and how these views are being used to force governments to change their laws on abortion.
The Friday Fax reported last week that a portion of the Court's judgment quoted the entirety of a legal opinion by the Attorney General of Colombia. The Attorney General was extremely deferential to the assertions of the compliance committees in defining international law. These compliance committees, which are in charge of monitoring the implementation of various multilateral treaties dealing with social issues, are clearly in favor of extending abortion rights, as the Court's judgment and Attorney General's opinion show.
For instance, the opinion cites the Human Rights Committee as stating: "The Committee notes with concern that the existence of legislation criminalizing all abortions…can lead to situations in which women are obliged to undergo high-risk, clandestine abortions. It is especially concerned [with the fact] that women who have been victims of rape or incest or whose lives are in danger as a result of their pregnanc[ies]…may be prosecuted for resorting to such measures. [Colombia]…should ensure that the legislation applicable to abortion is revised so that no criminal offences are involved in the cases described above."
The opinion goes on to cite the Committee monitoring the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) as stating: "The Committee…established that to criminalize medical procedures required only by women, such as abortion, constitutes a violation to the right to equality."
The CEDAW Committee also was quoted by the Attorney General as stating: "The Committee notes with great concern that abortion, which is the second cause of maternal deaths in Colombia, is punishable as an illegal act. No exceptions are made to that prohibition, including where the mother's life is in danger or to safeguard her physical or mental health, or in cases where the mother has been raped. The Committee is also concerned that women who seek treatment for induced abortions, women who seek an illegal abortion and the doctors who perform them are subject to prosecution. The Committee believes that legal provisions on abortion constitute a violation of the rights of women to health and life and of article 12 of the Convention. The Committee calls upon the Government to consider taking immediate action to provide for derogations [i.e. changes] from this legislation. Furthermore, it asks the Government to provide regular statistics on maternal mortality by region."
It should be noted that no UN human rights treaty mentions abortion. The various compliance committees have taken it upon themselves to change the treaties to fit this view.