Refusal to Abort Leads to Suspension for Colombian Doctor

Colombian authorities suspended the medical license of Dr. Germán Arango Rojas after he refused to abort the baby of a girl with Down syndrome. The country’s attorney general has now asked the Constitutional Court to reverse the conviction, since Arango Rojas was not allowed to present evidence in his own defense, according to Catholic News Agency.

In 2008, the girl’s parents brought her to Rojas when she was 18 or 19 weeks pregnant and requested an abortion, El Tiempo reported. Arango Rojas refused for conscience reasons, and also because he could not establish during that one visit whether the abortion could be performed legally under Colombian law.

Officially, abortion is allowed in Colombia only for the life of the mother, fetal deformity, or rape, and Arango Rojas said that “at the time was not possible to establish whether the conception was the product of a violent sexual act,” according to El Tiempo.

The girl later gave birth and the baby was placed for adoption, Radio Santa Fe reported. After her parents filed a complaint against Arango Rojas, the Court of National Medical Ethics temporarily suspended his license and he was fined. However, Arango Rojas was not allowed to present a defense during the hearing.

Attorney General Alejandro Ordóñez Maldonado has asked the Plenary Chamber of the Constitutional Court to review the conviction, calling it “a violation of fundamental rights and especially the right of due process,” according to El Tiempo.