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BOGOTÁ, September 20, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Colombian Senate is scheduled to begin a debate this week on a constitutional reform that would prohibit abortion in all circumstances, according to local media reports.

The measure, which is supported by members of several political parties as well as five million Colombians who have signed a massive petition, would overturn a 2006 Constitutional Court decision nullifying protection for the unborn in cases of fetal deformity and rape.

Since the decision, which was made in part based on the opinions of the United Nation’s Committee for the Elimination of all Discrimination Against Women, the government has sought to force Catholic hospitals to kill unborn children, leading to a fine levied in one case of refusal.

The Constitutional Court has also ordered the government of Colombia to create a course on “sexual and reproductive rights” for elementary and high school students to teach them about their “right” to an abortion. The program also teaches children about homosexuality, masturbation, and gender ideology beginning in early childhood, according to the Catholic news agency ACI Prensa.

Although the proposed amendment has received massive and broad support from across confessional and political lines, the country’s president has already declared his opposition to the measure, stating his support for the exceptions on the law imposed by the Constitutional Court.