Abortion care in Colombia from the nursing side: rights and routes, care during and after, and post-abortion contraception

What it is

Voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVE) is a fundamental right in Colombia. Since Sentencia C-055 de 2022, abortion is a crime only after week 24 of gestation; after that limit it stays legal in the three cases of Sentencia C-355 de 2006. Resolución 051 de 2023 regulates the care: it is essential and urgent, provided at once on the woman's request, and only by exception within 5 calendar days. Nursing takes part in the first visit, information, counselling, recovery care and contraception. This page covers that care; the ethics pages cover the rulings and conscientious objection.

What it requires

• Res. 051 de 2023 adopts the single regulation for IVE care and modifies section 4.2 of Res. 3280 de 2018.
• Information must be objective and complete: continuing the pregnancy, adoption or termination; no dissuasive, personal or religious views.
• Under-18s decide on their own; no third-party authorisation is needed.
• Strict confidentiality: a partner or relative attends only if the woman asks.
• IVE care is free of co-payments and moderating fees (Decreto 1652 de 2022, cited by Res. 051).

Components

• First visit: the woman's will, health status, gestational age, an intrauterine pregnancy, signs of coercion or violence.
• Information, guidance and counselling when she wants it (never compulsory).
• The procedure, with medicines or by aspiration, chosen with the woman by gestational age.
• Recovery, contraception counselling and provision, and a control visit when needed.

How it is applied (and why)

1. Receive the request without judgement and record it in the clinical record — the request starts the timeline set by Res. 051.
2. Protect privacy: a private room and no third parties unless she asks — privacy is a protection standard of the regulation.
3. Ask the last period date and look for signs of ectopic pregnancy (pain, bleeding, dizziness, fainting, pallor) — it needs urgent referral.
4. Talk with her alone if you suspect pressure from a partner or relative — the decision must be free of coercion.
5. Give clear information on options, what she will feel and how long it takes, and check understanding — informed consent needs real understanding.
6. Offer HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B and C testing as voluntary — the tests never delay the procedure.
7. In recovery, watch pain and bleeding; pain greater than expected may mean perforation or blood in the uterus — report it at once.
8. Check the blood group: Rh-negative women at 12 weeks or more receive anti-D immunoglobulin per protocol — it prevents sensitisation.
9. Teach expected symptoms and warning signs; ovulation may return as early as 8 days — she needs to know when to come back and why to start a method.
10. Offer contraception counselling and the chosen method before discharge — starting a long-acting method at once improves continuation.

In nursing practice

• Expected recovery: occasional cramping in the first week that eases with common analgesics, and period-like bleeding for about 10 days, up to 4 weeks.
• Complications of unsafe abortion (WHO): haemorrhage, infection, incomplete abortion and uterine perforation.
• A woman who self-managed an abortion receives the care to complete it safely, with professional secrecy and no report to the police.
• If the pregnancy came from sexual violence, the sexual violence protocol also applies (urgent care, evidence, protection and justice routes), but a criminal complaint is never a requirement.
• IUD after abortion: once success is confirmed, except after a septic abortion. Implant: may be placed the day the abortion medicine is given.

Common mistakes

• Asking for a court order, a board's approval or a relative's signature.
• Sending her to a compulsory counselling or psychology visit before the procedure.
• Letting a partner or parent into the visit without her explicit request.
• A nurse who prepares or cares for the woman refusing or delaying care on grounds of conscience.
• Discharge without warning signs or a contraception offer.

Test yourself

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Elsewhere in DurgiPedia

• Sentencia C-355 de 2006: the three grounds for abortion
• Sentencia C-055 de 2022: abortion up to week 24
• Conscientious objection in health care

Connections

← All of nursing

Educational content for students; it does not replace your institution's protocols, supervised clinical training or a prescriber's order. Dose-calculation examples use made-up numbers: they are educational, not a clinical order.

Sources: Resolución 51 de 2023: regulación única para la atención integral en salud frente a la IVE (compiled text) (Superintendencia Nacional de Salud, Compilación Jurídica, 2023); Sentencia C-055 de 2022 (Corte Constitucional de Colombia, 2022); Sentencia C-355 de 2006 (Corte Constitucional de Colombia, 2006); Abortion (fact sheet) (World Health Organization, 2025).

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Representative model, for educational purposes only.