![]() ![]() represents more opportunities for women in restrictive areas of the United States,” she said. more alternatives to care either in Mexico or remotely, which are likely only to grow with time. People aren’t just going to all of a sudden begin going to Mexico.”īut some, like Veronica Cruz of the central Mexican group Las Libres - Spanish for “free women” - say the cumulative actions of Mexican activists have offered women in the U.S. “People have always found a way of living in a border area. Still, “abortions have always happened,” Torres said. It also marks a dramatic change in this predominantly Catholic society that could lend momentum to activists across the country.ĭespite Mexico’s proximity to Texas, which has heavily restricted abortion access, few expect this week’s ruling to result in an influx of American women traveling to the country for abortions. Silvana Flores / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images file Demonstrators gather to march on the International Safe Abortion Day in Mexico City, on Sept. It does, however, mandate that federal health care providers, which cover 70% of the population, provide abortion services. The Mexico ruling is not as sweeping and immediate as Roe was: It does not automatically decriminalize the procedure in the 20 states that still have abortion written into the criminal code. This week’s ruling by the high court involved a case brought forward by GIRE, one of the Mexican groups that collaborated with Chiarotti in the early days. A gradual, state-by-state process of pushing for decriminalization culminated last week when the central state of Aguascalientes became the 12th to do so. Then, two years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that abortion could not be treated as a crime in the northern border state of Coahuila. Still others, like El Salvador and Guatemala, have total or near-total abortion bans on the books with little prospect for change anytime soon, underscoring the long road still ahead in the region.Ībortion-rights groups in Mexico won their first big victory 16 years ago when Mexico City became the first jurisdiction in the country to decriminalize the procedure. Others, like Chile, have considered such measures but have yet to take action. Some Latin American countries, like Colombia and Ecuador, have since expanded abortion access and eased restrictions. “We have gone little-by-little because of the massive obstacles we have had to overcome,” Chiarotti said. Meanwhile they shared strategies with organizers engaged in their own fights in other countries. While grassroots organizations rallied protesters to take to the streets, leaders sought support from international human rights groups and began to take the battle to the courts. conservatives worked for decades to incrementally roll back abortion access and stack courts with conservative justices, abortion-rights groups in Latin America took a similar long-term, bit-by-bit approach. It was to try to show that we are the ones defending life,” the 76-year-old activist said.Ĭhiarotti said she and others often took inspiration from the United States, such as using language from Roe, the landmark 1973 decision which was overturned in 2022, and borrowing the tactics of both the country’s feminist movement and the anti-abortion camp as well. “It’s the color that represents life, nature. A march demanding legal, free and safe abortions in Mexico City in 2022. Argentine women’s activist Susana Chiarotti said she originally proposed adopting the color for the cause in 2003 as a way of changing the narrative around the issue. Latin America is in the midst of what’s come to be known as a “green wave,” as countries like Mexico, Colombia and Argentina have knocked down major abortion restrictions in recent years.įor decades, green has been emblematic of Latin America’s abortion-rights movement, which took hold in the 1980s in Argentina, a country that until recently had some of the region’s strictest prohibitions. ![]() “And given the current situation in the United States, it’s something we can share with them.”įor more from NBC Latino, sign up for our weekly newsletter. “In Mexico we have a lot of experience,” said Rebeca Ramos, a lawyer and director of GIRE, the organization behind the Mexican court case. ![]()
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