Global anti-feminist backlash gains ground after decades of equality gains

Spain and France justify enshrining the right to abortion in their Constitutions as a safeguard against a ‘reactionary’ wave that could roll back achievements

Marc Bassets, Berlin
OCT 31, 2025

History never advances in a straight line. Although, as Martin Luther King said, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Progress always moves in fits and starts: two steps forward, one step back. This is also the case with women’s rights and equality.

For a decade or more — in Western countries and in the Global South — there have been numerous cases of rights being stripped away after a long period of progress. This regression — according to progressive and liberal political leaders — is linked to the global rise of new forms of authoritarianism and nationalism.

Continued: https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-11-01/global-anti-feminist-backlash-gains-ground-after-decades-of-equality-gains.html

Amnesty records sharp increase in abortion ‘obstacles’ in Argentina

The NGO listed misinformation, a lack of medical supplies, and aggressive behavior by medical staff as some of the key barriers

Christopher Martin
May 29, 2025

Amnesty International offered a damning assessment of the situation of sexual and reproductive rights for women and girls in Argentina.

In a recent report titled “It’s Also for You: Defending Access to Abortion in the Face of Public Policy Rollbacks,” the human rights organization conducted a field study of the situation women and girls face when trying to access legal abortion. Among the key obstacles they face, the report highlighted five main barriers: …

Continued: https://buenosairesherald.com/society/amnesty-records-sharp-increase-in-abortion-obstacles-in-argentina

29.05.2025

Amnesty International

It’s Also for You: Defending Access to Abortion in the Face of Public Policy Rollbacks

Argentina used as a ‘testing ground’ for eroding abortion rights, warns Amnesty

Alarm as Javier Milei’s government curbs state supply of abortion pills and seeks to reverse landmark legalization

Harriet Barber in Tucumán
Wed 28 May 2025

Argentina is being used as a “testing ground” for stripping back abortion rights internationally as it cuts funding for contraceptives and ends the distribution of abortion pills, Amnesty International warned on Wednesday.

Before the inauguration of President Javier Milei in December 2023, the state bought abortion pills, which were then distributed for free through the public health system.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/may/28/argentina-womens-rights-javier-milei-testing-ground-eroding-abortion-rights-seek-reverse-landmark-legalisation-warning-amnesty

Eva Barrionuevo, a doctor on the frontlines in Argentina: ‘We know that abortion rights don’t last forever and we will have to fight for them’

The physician says misinformation, pharmaceutical shortages and peer intimidation are on the rise during Javier Milei’s presidency

Mar Centenera
Buenos Aires - MAR 11, 2025

Doctor Eva Barrionuevo, 39, says there are women in her northeastern Argentinian province of La Rioja who think abortion is no longer legal. Women who believe that it has been banned by President Javier Milei, because they heard him equate the voluntary termination of pregnancy with “aggravated murder.” That they are coming to her hospital later and later in their pregnancies, some of them already in their second trimester, due to a lack of information. That they have once again turned to the clandestine drugs that were widely used before abortion was legal, which are less effective and more dangerous than those distributed free of charge by today’s healthcare system. Every day, Barrionuevo fights back against these misconceptions and the growing fear among her fellow doctors who also accompany voluntary pregnancy terminations. It is her mission to guarantee a woman’s right to decide whether she will become a mother, a right that was officially won at the end of 2020 in her country, but is now at risk.

Continued: https://english.elpais.com/international/women-leaders-of-latin-america/2025-03-11/eva-barrionuevo-a-doctor-on-the-frontlines-in-argentina-we-know-that-abortion-rights-dont-last-forever-and-we-will-have-to-fight-for-them.html

11.03.2025

Commentary

belief-based care denial

Catholic Church

conscientious objectors

Dr. Eva Barrionuevo

Javier Milei

manual vacuum aspiration

Network of Professionals for the Right to Choose

Argentina – Abortion access under threat amid ‘chainsaw’ cuts

Buenos Aires Times
March 7, 2025

Four years after Argentina became the first big Latin American country to legalise abortion, women are finding it hard to access terminations due to President Javier Milei's "chainsaw" economics and anti-feminist diatribes, critics say.

At a women's sexual health NGO in the town of Chivilcoy, 160 kilometres (about 100 miles) west of Buenos Aires, abortion pills are handed out sparingly because of reduced state-sponsored supplies.

Each week, about 15 women in Chivilcoy request misoprostol and mifepristone – two medications used to end pregnancy – but some now leave empty-handed, Cecilia Robledo, a local counselor who runs the organisation, told AFP by telephone.

Continued: https://batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/abortion-access-under-threat-amid-chainsaw-cuts.phtml

Abortion access under threat in Milei’s Argentina

Buenos Aires (AFP) – Four years after Argentina became the first big Latin American country to legalize abortion, women are finding it hard to access terminations due to President Javier Milei's "chainsaw" economics and anti-feminist diatribes, critics say.

March 6, 2025

At a women's sexual health NGO in the town of Chivilcoy, 160 kilometers (about 100 miles) west of Buenos Aires, abortion pills are handed out sparingly because of reduced state-sponsored supplies.

Each week, about 15 women in Chivilcoy request misoprostol and mifepristone -- two medications used to end pregnancy -- but some now leave empty-handed, Cecilia Robledo, a local councilor who runs the organization, told AFP by telephone.

Continued: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250306-abortion-access-under-threat-in-milei-s-argentina

Latin American activists warn of pushback on reproductive rights

By Sarah Morland and Natalia Siniawski
March 6, 2025

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Latin American rights activists on Thursday warned of growing political threats to reproductive rights across the region, as the United States rolls back access to abortion.

“What we are seeing is a lot of backlash of progress after many years of human rights struggles," Paula Avila-Guillen, executive director of the Women's Equality Center told a conference. "What happens in one country has repercussions."

Continued: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/latin-american-activists-warn-pushback-reproductive-rights-2025-03-06/

06.03.2025

News

Amnesty International Argentina

Javier Milei

Mariela Belski

misoprostol and mifepristone

Natalia Marmol

Paula Avila-Guillen

Women's Equality Center

Argentina’s Abortion Law Three Years Later

The country's abortion law has reduced fertility rates and preventable deaths among girls ages 10 to 14

By Maria Emilia Pianesi
December 4, 2024

Each year, comprehensive abortion care could save the lives of up to nearly 39,000 women and prevent related health complications for 5 million women worldwide. A multicountry survey on the implementation of comprehensive abortion policies in Latin America and the Caribbean found that safe abortions and quality post-abortion care in the region is limited by some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world. As a result, the issue remains a major health and policy challenge in the region.

In this context, Argentina has taken a historic step for sexual and reproductive health and rights by legalizing abortion. Law 27.610, Access to Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy and Post-Abortion Care, has been enforced since January 2021. It allows anyone to request an abortion before 14 weeks of pregnancy and entails no time limit in cases of sexual assault or when the life of the applicant is in danger.

Continued: https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/argentinas-abortion-law-three-years-later

Beatriz v El Salvador: the abortion case that could set a precedent across Latin America

Activists targeted as US-linked hard-right campaigns sow disinformation ahead of inter-American court of human rights ruling on case of woman who was denied abortion in 2013

Sarah Johnson, The Guardian
Mon 2 Dec 2024

Earlier this year, Morena Herrera woke up to find that a video about her had been posted on social media. It claimed that the 64-year-old campaigner for abortion rights in El Salvador had “chased down” a young woman in hospital and “terrorised” her into seeking an abortion.

The young woman was Beatriz, who had been denied an abortion in 2013, even though she was seriously ill and the foetus would not have survived outside the uterus.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/dec/02/el-salvador-antiabortion-international-campaign-disinformation-hate-activists-laws-ban-human-rights

Abortion access is dwindling in Milei’s Argentina, three years after legalization

By Betiana Fernández Martino, CNN en Español
October 29, 2024

Montecarlo is a small city in the province of Misiones, Argentina, with just under 20,000 inhabitants. Those who walk through its neighborhoods can find cobblestone streets, but most of the roads are made of dirt. Anyone who wants to travel from this town to Posadas, the provincial capital, has to drive for about three hours.

María (who asked not to be identified by her real name to avoid being recognized in her city) says that in Montecarlo, all the neighbors know each other. She has four children: the oldest is 13 years old, and the youngest is just over a year old.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/29/americas/argentina-abortion-access-javier-milei-intl-latam/index.html