The government in the Central American country of Honduras is set to authorize use of the emergency contraceptive pill, or morning after pill, after more than a decade of a total ban on the piece of healthcare.
The country will authorize its use for victims of rape, according to an announcement from the country's health minister on Monday.
A complete ban on abortion will still stand in the country, Reuters reported.
In 2012, Amnesty International released a report urging action as Honduras was preparing to enact the (what became) over a decade total ban on the drug. The Supreme Court, at that time, ruled that a ban didn't go against the country's constitution.
In February of that year, the report said, "The Supreme Court in Honduras upheld a decree imposing an absolute ban on emergency contraception. This decree has been vetoed in May 2009 by the then President of the Republic of Honduras on grounds that it conflicted with the Constitution. The Supreme Court has now concluded that the decree is constitutional and that Congress could proceed to develop laws to enforce a ban of the emergency contraceptive pill (also sometimes referred to as the 'morning after pill') on the basis that the judges viewed it as 'abortive.'"
Honduras is currently the only Latin American nation with an all-out ban on the emergency contraceptive.
Honduras punishes women who have abortions with up to six years in prison, including in rape or incest cases.
