Bolivian Supreme Court Orders Improved Access to Abortion

Ipas: Bolivian Supreme Court Directs Courts to Implement Abortion Policy:

The Supreme Court of Justice of /Bolivia, the nation's highest court, issued an order on October 17 to all lower courts judges obligating them to implement Article 266 of the Penal Code, which allows abortion for the life and health of women and for cases of rape and incest.

Bolivia's current laws only permit abortion when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life or health, and when no other measure can remove the potential danger, or in cases of rape and incest. In both cases, the law stipulates that a woman receive judicial authorization before a physician may terminate a pregnancy with the woman's consent.

But even under these legal conditions, many factors in the judicial authorization process make these abortions virtually impossible to obtain.To date there have only been six legal abortions in Bolivia.