A technical guide on abortion provision from Perú’s Ministry of Justice and Human Rights (Minjus) is currently under consideration. Abortion in cases of a risk to a woman’s life has been legal in Perú since 1924, but the lack of professional standards has led to uncertainty among medical professionals about possible legal repercussions when they provide abortion care.

Currently, only 17 of the country’s 400 hospitals perform abortions, according to the Peruvian newspaper La República. According to a statement from Minjus, the protocol is essential for rectifying the gap between the abortion care allowed by law and what is actually available to women.

Some Peruvians are not content with the narrow circumstances under which abortion is legally available. La República reported on a cooperative effort by Peruvian feminist groups, including Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir, that has collected more than 100,000 signatures as a first step towards a proposal to change the law regarding abortion and victims of sexual assault. The current policy imposes a three-month prison sentence in such cases, a situation that women’s health advocate Maria Elena Reyes calls “a second violation” imposed by the state.