Resolution guarantees barrier-free access to IVE for indigenous women

The Ministry of Health and Social Protection published in the Official Gazette Resolution number 001575 of 2026, which guarantees timely, comprehensive, and barrier-free access to the voluntary interruption of pregnancy (IVE) for women and people with the capacity to gestate belonging to indigenous peoples. The regulation, signed on July 29, 2026, and disseminated in the edition of Monday, September 7, 2026, complies with the twelfth order of Unification Judgment 297 of 2025 of the Constitutional Court.

The resolution, signed by Minister Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo Martínez, adds article 10.1 to Resolution number 051 of 2023 and modifies numeral 4.2 of the Technical and Operational Guideline of the Comprehensive Maternal Perinatal Health Care Route adopted through Resolution number 3280 of 2018. It is issued in exercise of the powers conferred by Law 100 of 1993, Law 715 of 2001, and Decree number 120 of 2026.

A reinforced fundamental right

The Constitutional Court, through Unification Judgment 096 of 2018, recognized the IVE as a fundamental right that safeguards the autonomy and freedom of decision of women under the three grounds for decriminalization of Judgment C-355 of 2006. Judgment C-055 of 2022 reiterated that the IVE is a component of sexual and reproductive rights and the fundamental right to health.

In Unification Judgment 297 of 2025, the high court indicated that the right to the IVE has two essential manifestations:

• a dimension of freedom or defense, which recognizes the faculty of pregnant people to autonomously decide on the interruption up to and including the 24th week and, thereafter, when any ground is configured;
• a provision or protection dimension, which imposes on the State and private individuals the duty to remove any barrier that prevents the exercise of the right.

The same judgment ordered the Ministry to issue a resolution to ensure effective access for indigenous women and pregnant people, without the requirement to conduct prior consultation as it pertains to the fulfillment of a judicial order.

Obligations of the indigenous health system entities

The new article 10.1 establishes specific obligations for the entities of the General Social Security System in Health and the actors of the indigenous health system:

• immediately guarantee access to VCT (voluntary termination of pregnancy) when the person expresses their decision, without administrative, cultural, community, or institutional barriers;
• prohibit traditional authorities, community organizations, or administrative authorities from making access dependent on, conditioning, delaying, or preventing it based on collective decisions, community authorizations, or cultural assessments;
• ensure culturally relevant and understandable information, with an interpreter or translator when the native language is not Spanish;
• guarantee absolute confidentiality of information, without disclosing it to impose sanctions, pressures, or community disciplinary processes.

When Indigenous Health Promoting Entities (EPS-I) or Indigenous Health Service Provider Institutions (IPS-I) present barriers or refusals, women may go directly to any institution in the public or private network, without additional authorizations or community intermediation.

The expanded role of nursing

The resolution expands the role of nursing in the provision of VCT, based on the 2024 World Health Organization guidelines and the Ministry’s 2025 technical documents. It is recognized that duly trained nursing professionals can confirm early pregnancies, prescribe and accompany pharmacological VCT, and perform vacuum aspiration, with levels of safety and efficacy comparable to those of medical personnel.

The expansion of roles is justified as an essential strategy to advance access in rural and hard-to-reach territories, and contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 agenda, particularly the reduction of maternal mortality (SDG 3) and the decrease of territorial inequalities (SDG 10).

Cost compensation and validity

When a public or private network institution provides VCT care to an indigenous woman or pregnant person due to the impossibility, refusal, or obstruction by the indigenous health system entity, it shall be entitled to the recognition and compensation of the costs incurred. The resolution takes effect from the date of its issuance.

The regulation represents a concrete advance in guaranteeing the sexual and reproductive rights of indigenous women, by preventing collective or community decisions from conditioning a fundamental right and by expanding the offer of authorized providers in territories with limitations in medical human talent.

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Colombia, Year CLXII No. 53.618, Monday, September 7, 2026, p. 1 (official reference: Resolution number 001575 of 2026).