Abortion in Bolivia is illegal, except in the cases of rape, incest, or to protect the woman's health.[1] This policy forms part of the Penal Code laid down in 1973, and has been in force since then. Due to the difficulty of receiving abortions - even if the abortion does fall under one of the exceptions to the law, judicial permission needs to be secured, which can take a very long time - many pregnant women end up having unsafe, clandestine abortions instead. According to the Bolivian Ministry of Health, almost all of the 67,000 abortions performed in Bolivia in 2011 were clandestine, with approximately half of the women who received them needing hospital care afterwards.[2] This practice has been linked to the high maternal mortality rates in the country.[3]