The Scale of the Crisis
Caribbean/Latin America Estimated Abortion Rate
44
The abortion rate is the number of women out of every 1000,
age 15-39, that had an abortion in a single year.
The battle for life is raging in Colombia. Following Mexico and Argentina in 2021, Colombia’s traditionally prolife nation fell to global pressure to legalize abortion on February 21st, 2022. The Constitutional Court ruled in a 5-4 decision to “decriminalize” abortion through the first six months of pregnancy (24 weeks), meaning that intentionally violating the laws protecting unborn children can no longer be punished (in effect, legalizing abortion). In one day, Colombia went from being a strongly prolife nation to one of the most radically pro-abortion countries in the world.
The major abortion business in Colombia, Profamilia, estimates that abortion has increased 65% since abortion was legalized in 2022.
They also estimate 400,400 abortions are performed annually and that 44% of unplanned pregnancies end in abortion.
Highest Global Abortion Rates*
The abortion rate is the number of women out of every 1000, age 15-39, that had an abortion in a single year.
Abortion Data Source
 |
Worldwide, official abortion statistics are under-reported and incomplete. In some cases, like Colombia, official data is not reported. For Colombia, we are using data collected by Profamilia, (Planned Parenthood in Colombia) and their research department, Guttmacher Institute. Where possible our data source is the Abortion Worldwide Report (AWR) [Informe Mundial del Aborto (IMA)] (Jacobson and Johnston, 2018). They provide reported and estimated abortions by year for 110 countries and other areas through 2015. You can find updates to this data here.
|
The Work
In 2021, many Colombian Christian leaders and pastors sensed the turning of the tide against the protection of human life. The Conference of Evangelical Churches of Colombia (CEDECOL) took the initiative to partner with PassionLife and gather pastors together in Bogota, Medellín and Cali in September 2021.
PassionLife taught the pastors and leaders biblical prolife ethics and pregnancy crisis intervention methods. Using PassionLife’s 4 Questions on the Gospel of Life, in a rapidly reproducible format, these Christian leaders set a goal to train 184,000 people that fall to answer the biblical call to:
1. Treasure human life,
2. reject abortion,
3. Experience the good news of God’s forgiveness, and,
4. Rescue the innocent, one mother and couple at a time.
In the spring of 2022, CEDECOL and PassionLife taught over 1,000 additional pastors in 5 cities.
They organized a rapidly reproducing retraining schedule to equip 387,000 people to stand for life. Regional working committees were formed to plan and lead 4 Questions trainings on an ongoing basis throughout the country.
The Impact
In 2022, John Lind and Associates performed a professional and independent Impact Evaluation of the results of the 4 Questions training in Bogota, Medellín, and Cali. Download their full 17-page report here. In response to God’s call to rescue the innocent, Christians in Bogota opened their first pregnancy help clinic. They currently can name over 150 mothers and babies rescued from abortion.
Additional pregnancy help ministries are now operating or organizing in Bogota, Monteria, Santa Marta, Medellín, and Tunja. Medically-trained leaders, using hand-held ultrasounds, are helping mothers choose life. Volunteer counselors and mentors are showing mothers how to trust in Christ and pray for their daily bread.
The Latest News
Anderson Ocampo (Medellín) and Naydu Villimarin (Bogota) now serve as approved PassionLife representatives, organizing 4 Questions trainings throughout Latin America and helping pastors seek for their own country, what God is stirring and promoting as the Gospel of Life.
Thanks to the leadership of Anderson and Naydu, Colombia is the launching point for PassionLife’s mission throughout Latin America. In Colombia and beyond, they are preparing pastors, ministry leaders, health professionals, and teachers to teach prolife ethics and apologetics in Sunday Schools, public high schools, conferences and more, thereby preparing them for open discussions about the sanctity of life and abortion in secular places.
To follow the latest news about trips, trainings and events, please signup for the PassionLife newsletter below.
Where abortion is most concentrated, you are most needed…
Three ways YOU can advance the work:
Connect
Do you have connections in Colombia? You can send them Gospel of Life Spanish resources and introduce us to them or encourage them to reach out to Mark Nicholson at mnicholson@passionlife.org.
Who knows? You may open a door for advancing a new work in one of the neediest places on earth!
Give
Your gift to PassionLife will advance the work in Colombia, where PassionLife continues to partner with local Christians to spur them on to rescue the innocent by helping mothers in crisis.
Sign Up & Pray
Join the PassionLife newsletter to see the impact of your gift and pray for the progress and challenges faced by our Colombian brothers and sisters.