Honduras allows use of 'morning after pill,' ending 10-year ban

Honduran President Xiomara Castro signed an executive order on Wednesday evening allowing the use and sale of the “morning after” contraceptive pill after it had been banned in the Central American country for more than ten years. 

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

“Today, #8M we commemorate women's historical struggle, signing with secretary @DrMatheu144, the Executive Agreement for free use and commercialization of ECP. The World Health Organization (WHO) determined that it is part of women's reproductive rights and is not abortifacient,” Castro tweeted.

Hoy, #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 Zelaya (@XiomaraCastroZ) March 9, 2023

Honduras, where most of the population remains predominantly Catholic, banned the use and sale of the “morning after pill” in 2009, claiming that the pill could cause abortions.

Throughout Castro’s presidential campaign, she promised to roll back many of the country’s restrictive reproductive policies. Abortions have been criminalized in the Central American country since 1997. Women who go through with an abortion can face up to six years in prison, even if the pregnancy was due to rape or incest. 

Honduras was also one of the few remaining Latin American countries where the “morning after pill” was not legal. 

Since then, several initiatives have sought to decriminalize it on three grounds: risk to the woman's life, fetal non-viability, and rape. However, none of the initiatives had been successful.

In January 2021, the Honduran Congress approved a bill that entirely prohibits abortion in a constitutional amendment presented by a deputy of the National Party that incorporates this prohibition in Article 67 of the Magna Carta.

This reform was condemned by the United Nations, Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, and feminist organizations within and outside Honduras.

However, the process to make the pill legal began last year when the Secretary of Health, José Manuel Matheu, reported that the contraceptive would be legal only in cases of rape at the end of last year.