Simone de Beauvoir once said: “Never forget that a political, economic or religious crisis is enough to call women’s rights into question again.” These rights should never be taken for granted; “You must remain vigilant throughout your life.” It was an omen. Such a situation occurred in June 2022, when the United States Supreme Court struck down the right to abortion in the country, 50 years after it was enshrined in law. The overturning of Roe v. Wade proved that changes in political or legal power could jeopardize previous victories. It dealt a serious blow to the decades-long struggle; However, it was not possible to stem the flood throughout the Western Hemisphere. In Argentina, Colombia and Mexico, judicial systems have recently decriminalized abortion at the federal level. These rulings have proven to be a beacon of hope for the defense of women’s reproductive rights in America.
There was no luck behind the recent Latin American victory (Mexico) – just an ambitious legal strategy that had been in the works for years. “It’s now or never,” thought lawyers for the GIRE (Grupo de Información en Replication Elegid) just before they began filing dozens of cases to change criminal laws in most of Mexico’s 32 states. The plan began after September 7, 2021, when the Nation’s Supreme Court (SCJN) ruled that it was unconstitutional to jail a woman for having an abortion. The then court president, Arturo Zaldívar, described the verdict as “a new path to freedom, dignity and respect and a major step in the historic struggle for equality”.
The precedent was so strong that GIRE – a feminist organization – decided to use it to transform the futures of millions of women. The first step had been taken: women were no longer allowed to be imprisoned for abortions. Judges were required to dismiss their cases, but women could still be criminalized, persecuted, and otherwise stigmatized. The ideal way would have been for the local state parliaments to voluntarily decide to change their legislation. However, two years after the ruling, only 11 states had abolished the crime of abortion. And even in these states, access to abortion was very limited. For example, in the state of Sinaloa, when women came to a state medical center to have an abortion but were using state health services or Social Security programs, they were sent to facilities run by those facilities where abortions were still illegal.
Female protesters confront police in Mexico City during a march for women’s rights. Nayeli Cruz
So the calculations and variables began. Which states would have the most obstacles? And which states should be targeted first? Based on these questions, GIRE’s lawyers have prepared their strategy. And last week the results could finally be seen. The first victory was protecting abortion rights in Aguascalientes – one of the most conservative states in the country. Then the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the articles regulating abortion in the Federal Criminal Code should be reiterated and that federal health care institutions were obliged to care for women who wanted to terminate their pregnancies without criminalizing medical personnel. Until a few days ago, they could have faced a five-year ban from their profession for providing abortion services.
After this verdict, Rebeca Ramos, the director of GIRE, remembers that her phone was overflowing with messages. She was congratulated after 20 years of legal battles. “What now follows is that abortion will be decriminalized in the remaining 21 states through safeguards,” she tells EL PAÍS. “The most important thing is the provision of services and conditions: if a woman decides to have an abortion, she can safely perform it at home. [or if a woman] has to go to the hospital, where she is well cared for. This has to happen across the country.” She quickly makes it clear: “This is not an easy task.”
Recent achievements in Mexico go hand in hand with justice. “It’s a bittersweet feeling,” Ramos remembers. “On the one hand, it is sad to see that state congresses have implemented reforms to hamper rights when one would expect their representatives and the secular state to provide protection. But at the same time I am very happy that there are different forces and counterweights. My little lawyer heart says: ‘How nice that the law was used as a tool to promote rights,'” she laughs.
The court has also been a major ally in Colombia, where last year – in a landmark international ruling – abortion was decriminalized during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. This happened on February 21st. On February 22, the organization that promoted the standard had a new task: protecting it. “When the verdict came down, the anti-rights groups filed more than 30 applications for annulment,” explains Dr. Ana Cristina González from the NGO Causa Justa. “Even now that the Constitutional Court’s ruling has been confirmed, we must not let up.”
Abortion rights have become a battle of attrition. Feminist organizations strive for progress, and when they achieve it, they must unite to defend it. “We already had a court decision from 2006 that created three legal grounds [for allowing abortion]“But we had to fight for 15 years to protect this decision,” notes Dr. Gonzalez. She recalls that even after the courts ruled in their favour, conservative groups advocated a citizens’ referendum to reject abortion rights.
A protester paints a slogan on a wall in Bogota during a pro-abortion march. Gladys Serrano
But the bioethics expert is optimistic: “Opinion polls from 2017 to today have shown that public opinion is increasingly in favor of this decision being made for women.” 92% of people are against forced motherhood and no more than 2% want it Church and state must be included in these personal decisions.” This is where the success of the movement lies, according to the pioneer of Causa Justa: “[We’ve won] by changing people’s hearts and minds: that is, advancing social decriminalization.”
Despite the shadow of Roe v. Wade, Ana Cristina González believes that “the last four decades have been about the consolidation of rights.” “We are in a movement that is advancing – all these movements generate resistance. There are still very rigid structures in our society that resist the promotion of women’s rights because they challenge the state at all levels. And we are demanding what I believe is the culture war of this century: women’s reproductive freedom to decide what we do with our bodies.”
In Latin America, there are still countries where a woman cannot have an abortion, even if she has been raped, her life is in danger, or the fetus has deformities. There is a complete ban in Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Suriname and Jamaica. In Panama, women must go through a multidisciplinary commission to obtain an abortion. In Guatemala, Peru, Costa Rica and Venezuela, an abortion can only be performed if there is a clear risk to the pregnant woman’s life. There is no country in the region that fully recognizes the will of women recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Even in Argentina – a country that legalized abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy in 2020 – attacks on women’s rights have been fierce.
Javier Milei won Argentina’s presidential primary in August. And a few days later, after announcing a variety of proposals against science, against the move away from Argentina’s last military dictatorship (1976-1983) and against state protection measures, he also had one for women: he called for a referendum on the abolition of abortion .
“I think just the threat is an attempt to tame us,” says Argentine activist Luciana Peker, who doesn’t believe this fight will be easy for the far-right. “The political process in Argentina – the legalization of abortion by Congress – was very profound. It affected the entire democratic structure and brought a million people onto the streets. It was a process that got to the core of democracy,” explains the journalist.
“Now comes this sexist reaction, because obviously the right to abortion is women’s greatest achievement and it bothers the right-wing extremists of Trump, Bolsonaro and Vox [in Spain] and Miley. It is a right that represents the possibility of the future and progress. In a collapsed world, it is the political symbol that shows we are better off now than before and that we can still be better. That bothers them a lot,” asserts Peker.
The Argentine journalist and activist concludes: “The right to abortion is the most important political construction created in Latin America.” It is the only uniform policy that exists across the region. And we women did it.”
Hundreds of women raise their green handkerchiefs during a pro-choice rally in Argentina in 2020.RONALDO SCHEMIDT (AFP)
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