Thursday, Sep 10, 2026 The claims desk. Receipts included. POWERED BY LENZ ↗
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In Peru, abortion after rape remains criminalized, with only reduced penalties.

The Claim

Peru has decriminalized abortion for pregnancies resulting from rape.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

Peruvian law still treats abortion after rape as a crime. Article 120 of the Penal Code allows a reduced penalty in these cases, but that is not decriminalization, and authoritative 2024-2026 sources continue to describe reform as unfinished. In Peru, the established legal exception remains therapeutic abortion, not abortion based solely on rape.

Caveats

  • A reduced criminal penalty does not mean the conduct has been decriminalized; Article 120 still says it is punishable.
  • The claim omits that Peru’s recognized legal exception is therapeutic abortion, not a general rape exception.
  • Advocacy and reform proposals may discuss decriminalization as a goal, but failed or pending bills do not change current law.

The Receipts

  1. Peru

    GAPD - Global Abortion Policies Database (WHO/HRP, UN DESA)

  2. Activist framing of abortion and use for policy change in Peru

    BMC International Health and Human Rights (via PubMed Central)

  3. Peru 2024

    Amnesty International

  4. Jurisprudencia del artículo 120 del Código Penal.- Aborto sentimental y eugenésico

    LP Derecho

  5. Right to abortion in cases of sexual violence – Peru factsheet

    Center for Reproductive Rights

  6. Independent information for Peru's Periodic Review scheduled for the 85th CEDAW Session – Sexual and reproductive rights

    PROMSEX / CEDAW Shadow Report

  7. La despenalización del aborto por violación sexual en el Perú

    Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) - Revista Derecho & Sociedad

  8. Camila v Peru

    Leiden Children’s Rights Observatory

  9. La Despenalización del Aborto en Casos de Violación Sexual

    Centro de Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos (PROMSEX)

  10. The decriminalization of sentimental abortion in the Peruvian penal code

    MLS Law & International Politics Journal

+ 11 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

Peru

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