<p>QUITO, Ecuador &mdash; Ecuador’s Constitutional Court ruled Wednesday in favor of decriminalizing abortion in cases of rape, a decision that paves the way for laws imposing prison sentences in such cases to be changed. </p>
<p>The court’s judges voted 7-2 in favor of declaring two articles of the country’s penal code unconstitutional. The decision came in response to a petition from seven women’s, feminist and human rights groups. </p>
<p>The court now can demand the National Assembly reform the two articles or issue an order with deadlines and guidelines for its application. </p>
<p>Despite an order not to hold public gatherings, anti- and pro-abortion groups held demonstrations outside the Constitutional Court.</p>
<p>In the hours before the ruling, María de Lourdes Alcívar, the wife of President-elect Guillermo Lasso, said on her Twitter account: “We pray to God that abortion is not approved in our country. It is murder.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, one of Ecuador’s best known women’s rights activists, Lolo Miño, tweeted: “I am crying as I write this because I don’t believe it! Today, girls and women who are the victims of rape in Ecuador have a second chance.”</p>