Since the year 1985, abortions have been illegal in Honduras. Anyone who has gotten an abortion, or helped someone get one, can be sentenced up to eight years in prison. There are no exceptions to this law, which means any woman who has been raped or has health issues cannot receive an abortion. Honduras has also banned all forms of emergency contraception making it almost impossible for women in desperate situations to prevent a pregnancy. Law officials in Honduras want to keep it that way. Law officials and politicians want to keep abortions illegal, because they believe that it goes against their religion and that abortion is murder. 

During the month of January of 2021, a majority of Congress voted to amend their Constitution in order to make it harder to legalize abortions.  According to an article from CNN, the proposal to change the constitution specifically prohibits “…any ‘interruption of life’ to a fetus, ‘whose life must be respected from the moment of conception’”. A total of 88 legislators were in favor, and 28 opposed the proposal. However, in order for this proposal to be enacted, it must be approved through the unicameral legislature. An unicameral legislature refers to the practice of having one legislature to pass bills, enact laws, etc. 

 According to women’s activists in Honduras, this proposal is a huge step back for women in Honduras because it will make it more difficult to have abortians legalized in the future. Women’s activists in Honduras are marching throughout the streets in order to show their disapproval of the new proposal. Women’s activist Nessa Medina spoke to the news station, Aljazeera, and stated that the government “…did it out of fear. Because they think they can ban the future. But you can’t ban the future” Even though this is a set back for women’s rights in Honduras, activists are still fighting strong in order to try and legalize abortions for women, because they believe that it is their right to chose.