Latin American feminists vow to protect abortion rights at home after shock US ruling

Women’s movements have fought hard to reverse anti-abortion laws in their countries and say it’s not the end for the US

Natalie Alcoba in Buenos Aires
Thu 5 May 2022

Reproductive rights activists across Latin America have vowed to protect hard-fought gains in their own territories as they brace for potential ripple effects if the US supreme court overturns Roe vs Wade – the 1973 ruling which guarantees the right to abortion.

Latin America has some of the most draconian anti-abortion laws in the world. But feminist movements have fought for decades to chip away at the prohibitions, and in recent years a younger, diverse generation of activists has mobilized in massive numbers to help clinch a string of victories in traditionally conservative countries.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/may/05/latin-america-abortion-rights-roe-v-wade


How Colombian Feminists Decriminalized Abortion: With Help From Their Neighbors

As the United States faces growing restrictions on abortion, activists in Latin America are increasingly relying on one another to knock down barriers in the region.

By Julie Turkewitz, New York Times
Feb. 23, 2022

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Decades of grass roots organizing, with meetings in living rooms and in the streets, online and across borders, have produced a tectonic shift on abortion in Latin America, a historically conservative region where access to the procedure has long been severely limited.

In just over a year, Colombia has joined Mexico and Argentina in knocking down barriers to abortion. It’s all the more striking in contrast to the shift taking place in the United States, the country whose Supreme Court decision guaranteeing the right to abortion — Roe v. Wade — had been a seminal spark for many activists in Latin America.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/23/world/americas/colombia-abortion.html


Celebrations before new challenges after Colombia legalizes abortion

February 22, 2022
By Irene Escudero, La Prensa Latina

Bogotá, Feb 22 (EFE).- The emotion of the Colombian Constitutional Court’s historic decision to decriminalize abortion up to 24 weeks continued Tuesday with celebrations of those who pushed for the change, along with the realization of the challenges that lie ahead.

Again in front of the headquarters of the court in Bogotá, but this time without the nerves accumulated during the more than 500 days spent waiting for the decision, more than 100 young women, with their characteristic green scarves, chanted: “It’s legal, it’s legal, abortion in Colombia is legal.”

Continued: https://www.laprensalatina.com/celebrations-before-new-challenges-after-colombia-legalizes-abortion/


Report: International Conference on Population & Development+25

International Conference on Population & Development+25
Nairobi, Kenya, 12-13-14 November 2019

Press Release: 22 November 2019

What was it about: some history

This conference has taken place every five years, beginning in 1994. At each follow-up meeting, the overarching purpose has been to measure progress (and the lack of progress) in implementing the 1994 Programme of Action, which was agreed by acclamation by the representatives of 179 countries, and the follow-up actions added at subsequent conferences. An excellent summary of the aims, goals and history of the conference can be found here and a 20th anniversary edition of the Programme of Action can be found here along with a global report on progress published in 2014.

In 1994, UNFPA, the conference convenor, described the Programme of Action as: “a bold new vision about the relationships between population, development and individual well-being… remarkable in its recognition that [sexual and] reproductive health and reproductive rights, as well as women's empowerment and gender equality, are cornerstones of population and development programmes. The Consensus is rooted in principles of human rights and respect for national sovereignty and various religious and cultural backgrounds.

Continued: https://mailchi.mp/safeabortionwomensright/press-release-international-conference-population-development-25?e=372dd34034