In April 2005, Women's Link filed a suit to constitutionally challenge Colombia's penal code provisions that, without exception, criminalized abortion. On December 8th, the Constitutional Court surprised the country by announcing a 5 to 3 decision that dismissed the complaint based on procedural grounds with no ruling on the merits of the case. Women’s Link’s advocates decided to immediately modify the initial complaint, incorporating the Court’s observations. On December 12th the second brief was filed before the Constitutional Court.

The Court’s second decision comes at a time when, according to mainstream polls, most Colombians support the liberalization of abortion in extreme circumstances. The decision to liberalize the country’s law on abortion is an important achievement for women's reproductive rights in the country and sets an important precedent in the region. This initiative demonstrates the use of high impact litigation as a means of strategically advancing human rights issues and will provide an example for NGOs around the world of engaging the courts on the issue of women's human rights.