In a historic move, President Xiomara Castro has lifted the much-criticized ban on the morning-after pill in Honduras, where it has been illegal for 13 years. She issued the change by executive order on International Women’s Day and is the first woman to ever serve as president of the nation.
According to a tweet from President Castro, March 8 is a day to remember women’s historic resistance. ‘I am approving the Executive Order requiring the morning-after pill to be used by everyone.’
The World Health Organization (WHO) concluded that it is part of a woman’s reproductive rights and is not an abortion, Castro continued.
Castro pledged to rewrite Honduras’ stringent reproductive rights legislation after entering government in 2022.
Following a coup, the morning-after pill was outlawed in Honduras in 2009. The country is largely Catholic and a ban was placed on the emergency pill following the ouster of Xiomara Castro’s husband, then-President Manuel Zelaya.
However, in December last year, feminist groups in the country campaigned to get the pill approved, following which it was exclusively cleared for rape victims.
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