Honduras Congress declares adolescent pregnancy prevention law invalid

The National Congress of Honduras has declared Legislative Decree No. 8-2023, which contains the Comprehensive Education Law for the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy, inapplicable. The decision follows a legislative debate regarding the law's constitutional validity and its publication in the official gazette, La Gaceta.

Congress determined that the decree failed to complete the required constitutional procedure to become law. While the measure was originally approved on March 8, 2023, it was returned to the legislature via a presidential veto by then-President Xiomara Castro on March 17, 2023. The legislature found no evidence that the law was subsequently ratified by the two-thirds majority (86 votes) required by Article 216 of the Constitution.

The ruling clarifies that the mere publication of the decree in La Gaceta does not grant it legal validity or normative force. Consequently, the Secretariat of the National Congress and the National Graphic Arts Company (Enag) have been instructed to preserve and remit all related documentation to the Public Ministry for investigation into the circumstances of its publication.