A court ruled Wednesday that the nation’s abortion laws must be further decriminalized by removing penalties against women who terminate their pregnancies.

The Constitutional Court ruled in a split decision that several articles of the Criminal Code related to abortion were “unconstitutional” because they infringed upon women’s rights to life and liberty.

Those sections of the law include Article 301, which punishes women who obtain or induce their own abortions with up to three years in prison and a THB6,000 (US$185) fine. The court gave 360 days for the law to be amended.

Few women are prosecuted because broad exceptions in the law effectively make abortion legal. Still, pro-choice activists and academics have campaigned for full decriminalization and called upon society and the law to enable them to end pregnancies legally and safely.

Related:

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