Honduras's First Woman President Lifts Ban On Contraceptive Pills

On International Women's Day, Honduran President Xiomara Castro lifted a 13-year ban on emergency contraception pills. Honduras was the only Latin American country that banned contraceptive pills for women.

The country’s first woman leader announced the executive order on her social media handle. She said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has determined that the morning-after-pill is "part of women’s reproductive rights and not abortive."

Honduras Legalises Contraceptive Pills

The official Twitter handle of President Castro uploaded a photo of her signing the executive agreement. "Today, March 8, commemorates the historic struggle of women, and I’m signing the executive order for the use of the morning-after pill," read the tweet.

President Castro, who took office in 2022, has also promised to relax Honduras’s restrictive reproductive rights laws.

The country, which is in Central America, banned the use of the morning-after pill in 2009 following a coup that ousted Castro’s husband and then-president Manuel Zelaya. The Catholic Church has since significantly influenced the country’s politics.

Last December, the health ministry approved the use of the pill exclusively for rape survivors, following campaigns from feminist groups.

In an interview for a 2022 BBC documentary on black market abortion pills, Health Secretary Jose Manuel Matheu stated that Honduras would never change its stand on the issue. "We are going to promote the morning-after pill as contraception because doing so would lead to "sexual debauchery."

This term, "desenfreno sexual" (sexual debauchery), went viral on Twitter after the documentary was released in December. Dr Matheu’s choice of words was criticised by the country’s activists.

This Women’s Day, Dr Matheu was seen alongside President Castro as she signed the executive order. However, he refused to comment on his previous statements.

A grassroot campaign was launched in Honduras earlier this week to legalise contraceptive pills following false claims by church leaders, doctors, and conservative politicians that the medication causes abortion, infertility, and cancer.

Welcoming President Castro’s decision, reproductive rights activist Sandy Artega told the BBC, "We will monitor the implementation process of the morning-after pill and will continue to fight for other rights that we lack." She added that now the door has been opened to sexual and reproductive rights.

In Honduras, abortion is a punishable offence that will lead to six years in prison, even in cases of rape or incest. The UN estimated that 51,000 to 82,000 unsafe abortions were performed every year in Honduras. Women, including rape survivors, were forced to buy unregulated contraceptive pills on the black market for high prices.

Suggested Reading: France Makes Contraception Free For Women Up To 25