The decision of Colombia’s Constitutional Court in favor of decriminalizing abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy is a great triumph for human rights, Amnesty International said.

“We celebrate this decision as a historic victory for the women’s movement in Colombia, which has fought for decades to have its rights recognized. Women, girls, and all people capable of bearing children are the only ones who have to make decisions about their bodies. Now, instead of punishing them, Colombian authorities will have to recognize their autonomy over their bodies and their life plans,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s director for the Americas.

“After the legalization of abortion in Argentina last year and the recent decriminalization in Mexico, this decision is another example of the unstoppable green wave movement in Latin America. We will not stop fighting until the sexual and reproductive rights of all women, girls and people capable of having children are recognized throughout the continent without exception,” she added.

On Monday, February 21, Colombia’s Constitutional Court approved the decriminalization of abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy by five votes in favor and four against. After 24 weeks, legal abortion will still be allowed only in cases of risk to the life or health of the pregnant woman, life-threatening fetal malformations or when the pregnancy is the result of rape, incest or artificial insemination carried out without consent.