Therapeutic abortion, unjustified absence in health policy

Abstract

Although abortion for health reasons is not considered a crime in Peru, the State does not allow its inclusion in public policy, thus violating women’s right to terminate a pregnancy when it affects their health. When examining the article in the Criminal Code which decriminalizes this type of abortion, provisions are identified which protect women and set the conditions to offer this type of service. This document sets the debate about the arguments used by the Peruvian State for not approving a therapeutic abortion protocol which would regulate the provision and financing of therapeutic abortion in public services, and explains why this obligation should be complied with, based on the conceptual framework of “health exception”. In addition, it presents two cases brought before the judicial court in which the Peruvian State was found guilty of violating the human rights of two adolescents to whom a therapeutic abortion was denied.