Es ley! As Argentina legalises abortion, can the green tide sweep Latin America?
The fight for legal, safe and free abortions in Latin America has been difficult. Unfortunately, it is one that will continue for many more years. Central and South America is a region that, for a number of reasons, has been particularly harsh on abortions. However, the tide seems to be turning, with the number of protest movements growing, the conversation becoming more open and some governments legalising abortions (to differing degrees).
One can look at 2018 in Argentina as a key turning point. This was the moment when the pro-choice movement (which had begun decades before) became hugely popularised. Protests swept the country as people of all genders and ages flooded the streets, wearing green bandanas and demanding voluntary abortion be legalised.
Over the next few years, it seemed as though this demand for the freedom of choice would remain in the streets. Yet, on the 30 of December 2020, the Argentinian National Congress voted to legalise abortion. This is a huge victory - one celebrated across the world. But will this green tide sweep the rest of Latin America?
The Revolutionary History of Latin America
To ascertain where the movement may go from here, we must firstly look at the history of Latin America. Why has abortion become a focal point in this century? Why has the region been so harsh on abortions until now?
Many of the transatlantic feminist movements in the second half of the 20th century were focused on reproductive rights. Yet, during this time, the majority of Latin American countries were living a very different reality. Between 1960-1990, fourteen of these twenty five countries were either under military dictatorship or had suffered from right-wing coup attempts. This meant that many Latinx feminists were fighting against said dictatorships, in revolutionary struggles or civil wars. Reproductive rights were pushed down the agenda.
Though abortion may not have been a priority topic, many of these Latin American struggles had feminist demands at their core. In Nicaragua, women’s emancipation was a top goal of the revolution. However, as the revolutionary triumph led to war, the feminist agenda was overshadowed once again. As many campaigners began to focus on the sole objective of winning the war, abortion would have to wait.
Underpinning the dictatorships, in many situations, was the Catholic church. While the role of the church has much diminished in the global north, it still holds great power and sway in Latin America - the most Catholic region in the world. In many countries the church played the dirty role of being directly involved in or supporting dictatorships. While these dictatorships may have come to an end, this ecclesiastical power has not ceased. In many Latin American countries, the church’s support can play an intrinsic role in governments claiming power; and opposition from the church can bring governments to their knees.
The Church’s Role in 21st-Century Civil Control
Over the past two years, I’ve had the privilege of living, working and travelling through Latin America. As I walked through the streets of Mexico City on International Women’s Day 2019, the fight to break the bonds of power held by the church was clearly visible. The sheer quantity of graffiti on church walls spoke volumes. The messages of rage were numerous: calls for legal abortion, anti-femicide shouts, general anti-church sentiment and many more.
I saw much the same story in Santiago. Since October 2019, Chile’s capital has been involved in a widespread, systematic attack on the neoliberal experiment. While, in some cases, the messages pasted on church walls were country-specific, one thing is clear across the region: the church is still seen as a key player in limiting the rights of the people.
Beyond limiting access to abortion, the church’s hold of power also restricts healthy and open sexual education.
I discussed the effects of church-sanctioned sex education with a gynaecologist in Nicaragua. During my smear test, the doctor and I struck up a conversation about my experience of sex education in the UK compared to her’s in Nicaragua. She mentioned that she always tries to give her patients as much information as possible when they come to see her, as they may not have access to clear sexual health guidance elsewhere. In a post-dictatorship, still Catholic society, providing basic medical advice often involves undoing much of what her patients have learnt.
She told me about one young patient who attended the surgery for a routine PAP smear. When the doctor asked about contraception, the patient said she didn’t use any. When asked why, the patient replied “only prostitutes use contraception”.
Abortion Controls Throughout Latin America
Latin American countries continue to span the full spectrum of abortion law, from ‘legal on request’ in Argentina to a blanket ban, with no exceptions, in El Salvador and Nicaragua.
Until recently, only Cuba and Uruguay allowed voluntary abortions in the third trimester. Cuba legalised abortion in 1965 and it seemed, for a long while, that no other Latin American country was going to follow suit. When Uruguay legalised abortions, in 2012, it was under the ‘pink-tide’ president José Mujica. He also made Uruguay the first country to legalise marijuana on a national level, so his abortion law was ascribed by many as just another progressive left-wing statement.
Beyond the small nations of Cuba and Uruguay, campaigns and protests calling for legal, safe and free abortions took place throughout the region. But it seemed that these efforts were falling on deaf ears.
Nevertheless, organisers haven’t given up. This has led to a mixed approach to abortion in Latin America:
In Mexico, individual states are granted the right to decide on abortion law. Therefore, voluntary abortions are only available in Mexico City and Oaxaca.
In Chile, in 2017, the government overturned the dictatorship’s ban of abortion. But, abortions are still only permitted in specific cases: if the mother's life is at risk, if the foetus is not viable, and in the case of rape during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy (18 weeks, if the woman is under 14 years old).
What the 2020 Abortion Law in Argentina could mean for Latin America
In 2018, millions of feminists waited in the streets of Argentina for a Senate vote on abortion - it made international headlines. At the time, the bill narrowly failed the Senate. Many Argentinians were left angry and disappointed. Campaigners watched as neighbouring countries reformed at least in favour of limited abortion, and theirs remained staid and unmoving.
For Argentina, victory came in 2020, with cries of ‘es ley’ [it’s law] heard across the nation. While it has taken a long time, and cost many lives through backstreet abortions, the country can now celebrate legal voluntary abortions, with no exceptions.
These hard won changes have brought a once taboo subject back into the conversation throughout Latin America. It has sparked a movement: the ‘green wave’.
We can and should celebrate these wins. However, we must be cautious in our celebrations. As the ‘green wave’ seems to sweep the southern cone - and possibly the whole of Latin America - there are other countries moving in the opposite direction.
In Brazil, the far-right President, Jair Bolsonaro, is keen to make abortion even more punitive. Abortion in Brazil already holds a 1-3 year prison sentence for the woman, and 1-4 year sentence for the administering doctor. Meanwhile, an estimated 48,000 clandestine abortions happen every year (this number is even considered to be on the conservative side).
At the same time, the debate on abortion in the United States continues to rage on. While it is technically legal in every state, it is becoming harder to actually pursue an abortion procedure. Many states host only one abortion clinic and demand additional requirements such as mandatory waiting periods, additional ultrasounds, and scripted counselling. An increasing number of women are rendered unable to access abortions, due to the financial and logistical requirements of travelling to and from abortion clinics, within an arbitrary time limit. These pushbacks against abortion in the USA - the “free world” - are likely to have an effect on other countries.
So will Latin America turn green? Unfortunately, we must wait and see. Between cultural and religious boundaries, historical precedent, and international example-setting, it’s difficult to define which factors will have the most impact.
I may not sound positive, or at all celebratory, but I do acknowledge the huge win at hand: the conversation has become more open and is finally being had. More and more people across Latin America - indeed, the world - are becoming aware that they have the right to decide what happens in and with their bodies. While this may not be reflected in concrete laws yet, this is progress.
Title image shows a wheatpasted poster reading Abortion: Free, voluntary, safe on the Catholic University, Santiago, Chile. Author’s own.
