Honduras allows ‘next day pills’ after 10-year ban

Honduran President Xiomara Castro signed a decree late Wednesday allowing the use and sale of “morning after” birth control pills after they have been banned in the Central American country for more than a decade.

Castro, the first female president of a Central American country, signed the decree on International Women’s Day.

“Today, #8M, we celebrate the historic struggle of women by signing an executive agreement with Secretary @DrMatheu144 to use and commercialize ECP free of charge. The World Health Organization (WHO) has determined that this is part of women’s reproductive rights and is not abortive,” Castro tweeted.

Hey, #8M conmemoramos lucha histórica de la mujer, firmando con secretario @DrMatheu144 el Acuerdo Ejecutivo para libre uso y comercialización de la PAE. La Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) determinó que es parte de los derechos reproductivos de la mujer y no es abortiva. pic.twitter.com/ELQPTzhfd5

— Xiomara Castro de Celaya (@XiomaraCastroZ) March 9, 2023

Honduras, where the majority of the population remains predominantly Catholic, banned the use and sale of “next day pills” in 2009, arguing that the pills could cause abortions.

Throughout Castro’s presidential campaign, she promised to abandon many of the country’s restrictive reproductive policies. Abortion has been criminalized in this Central American country since 1997. Women who have an abortion face up to six years in prison, even if the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest.

Honduras was also one of the few remaining Latin American countries where “next day pills” were illegal.

Since then, several initiatives have been taken to decriminalize it on three grounds: risk to a woman’s life, fetal failure, and rape. However, none of the initiatives were successful.

In January 2021, the Honduras Congress approved a bill completely banning abortion in a constitutional amendment submitted by a National Party MP that incorporates the ban into Article 67 of the Magna Carta.

This reform has been condemned by the United Nations, Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders and feminist organizations in Honduras and beyond.

However, the pill legalization process began last year, when Health Minister José Manuel Mateu announced that contraceptives would only be allowed in cases of rape at the end of last year.