For abortion rights activists, Latin America provides a roadmap of ‘long fight’ ahead

It may take decades to constitutionally legalize abortion in the United States again, but advocates point to opportunities that could speed up such efforts.

June 24, 2022
By Nicole Acevedo

Human rights attorney Paula Avila-Guillen never thought she'd be fighting to decriminalize abortions in the U.S. until now, as nearly two dozen states move to ban the procedure following Roe v. Wade's official repeal Friday.

A leader of Latin America's "green wave" movement for reproductive rights, earlier this year Avila-Guillen helped legalize abortions for women up to 24 weeks-pregnant in her native Colombia, which now joins Argentina and parts of Mexico in the short list of places in Latin America where terminating a pregnancy is no longer a crime.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/abortion-rights-activists-latin-america-provides-roadmap-long-fight-ah-rcna35197

24.06.2022

Featured

News

Alianza Americas

Citizen Group for the Decriminalization of Abortion

Paula Avila-Guillen

Roe v. Wade

Women's Equality Center

El Salvador’s jailed women offer US glimpse of post-Roe future

‘Don’t let our reality become your reality,’ campaigners warn after woman is freed after decade behind bars for medical emergency ruled attempted murder

Nina Lakhani
Thu 19 May 2022

A33-year-old woman in El Salvador who suffered a medical emergency while pregnant has been freed after serving a decade in jail for attempted murder, the victim of a draconian abortion ban being replicated in the US.

The woman, named only as Jacqueline, sought medical help for an obstetric complication in 2011, and even though the baby survived, she was arrested on suspicion of attempted abortion. She was separated from her newborn daughter and eight-year-old son, and sentenced to 15 years for attempted murder.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/19/abortion-el-salvador-jailed-women-roe-v-wade

Colombia legalises abortion in move celebrated as ‘historic victory’ by campaigners

Colombia has decriminalised abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, following rulings in Mexico and Argentina that improve access to abortion

Joe Parkin Daniels, The Guardian
Tue 22 Feb 2022

Colombia has decriminalised abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, adding to a recent string of legal victories for reproductive rights in Latin America.

The South American country’s constitutional court ruled five against four to decriminalise the procedure on Monday evening. The decision follows a series of rulings in Mexico and Argentina that lowered barriers to abortion.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/feb/22/colombia-legalises-abortion-in-move-celebrated-as-historic-victory-by-campaigners

Colombia decriminalises abortion following regional ‘green wave’

Following a trend across Latin America, Colombia decriminalises abortion – making it legal up to 24 weeks.

By Megan Janetsky
Published On 22 Feb 2022

Bogota, Colombia – “Ya es ley.” Now it’s law.

That was the
chant that echoed outside Colombia’s Constitutional Court building Monday in a
sea of green handkerchiefs.

In a landmark decision, the court decriminalised abortion procedures up to 24
weeks of gestation, paving the way for greater abortion access in the largely
Catholic country.

Continued: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/22/colombia-decriminalises-abortion-following-regional-green-wave

El Salvador frees three women convicted of abortions

Abortion rights groups say President Nayib Bukele’s government has freed three Salvadoran women who were sentenced to 30 years in prison under the nation’s strict anti-abortion laws after suffering obstetric emergencies

By The Associated Press
25 December 2021

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador -- President Nayib Bukele's government has freed
three Salvadoran women who were sentenced to 30 years in prison under the
nation's strict anti-abortion laws after suffering obstetric emergencies,
according to abortion rights groups.

Morena Herrera of the Citizen's Group for the Depenalization of Abortion said
late Friday that the group was told one woman would be set free at presidential
order, but when they went to the prison to greet her, three were released.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/el-salvador-frees-women-convicted-abortions-81938352

’The court owes it to women’: Groups decry Colombia’s abortion ruling delay

The Constitutional Court had been expected to make history Friday, but it didn't happen. Unsafe abortions are the country's fourth-leading cause of maternal mortality.

Nov. 23, 2021

By Albinson Linares, Noticias Telemundo

Women's groups that sued to decriminalize abortion in Colombia are pushing for
a decision after a much-anticipated ruling from the country's top court was
postponed last week.

“The court owes it to women," Catalina Martínez Coral, the Latin America
and Caribbean director of the Center for Reproductive Rights, told Noticias
Telemundo.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/-court-owes-women-groups-decry-colombias-abortion-ruling-delay-rcna6477

Colombia Weighs Abortion Decriminalization As Feminist ‘Green Wave’ Sweeps Latin America

Travis Waldron
Thu, November 11, 2021

Colombia’s top constitutional court is set to rule in the coming days in a landmark case that could fully decriminalize abortion, a result that would provide the latest jolt to the feminist “Green Wave” movement that has pushed for and won expanded reproductive rights across Latin America.

In December, Argentina became the largest of the region’s nations to legalize abortion. In April, Ecuador’s top court decriminalized abortion in instances of rape, expanding the number of circumstances in which it is allowed. Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled in September that criminal penalties for abortion are unconstitutional, paving the way for legalization across a country where abortion has been legal in some states for more than a decade. The same month, Chile’s lower chamber of congress opened debate on legislation to expand legal access to abortion, although it has not yet become law.

Continued: https://news.yahoo.com/colombia-weighs-abortion-decriminalization-feminist-163746267.html

El Salvador – A woman lost her pregnancy but was jailed for abortion. She later died.

El Salvador is committing "gender violence" by criminalizing women with obstetric emergencies, human rights groups argued before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

March 17, 2021 – NBC News

By Albinson Linares, Noticias Telemundo and
Eulimar Núñez

Manuela, a mother of two in rural El Salvador, couldn't even walk to the
hospital.

In February 2008, her relatives had to wrap her in a hammock and transport her
as best they could to the health center two hours away, after a pregnant
Manuela suffered severe pelvic pain, started hemorrhaging, expelled her fetus
and passed out.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/woman-lost-pregnancy-was-jailed-abortion-later-died-rcna440

The abortion cases that could force El Salvador to loosen its ban

Appeal of Salvadoran woman’s 30-year sentence for suspected abortion comes amid ‘green wave’ of decriminalisation in Latin America.

By Anna-Cat Brigida, Al Jazeera
14 Mar 2021

San Salvador, El Salvador – Lawyers are fighting for the release of one of the dozens of women imprisoned for abortion-related crimes in El Salvador in a case that could signal if the country will be swept up by the region’s “green wave” of abortion decriminalisation.

Sara, a Salvadoran woman identified only by her first name to protect her identity, had a miscarriage in 2012 at the age of 22 when she slipped and fell washing laundry. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison for aggravated homicide but has maintained her innocence.

Continued: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/14/the-abortion-cases-that-could-force-el-salvador-to-loosen-its-ban

El Salvador abortion laws on trial in case of woman jailed after miscarriage

Demands for justice for Manuela, who died of cancer during 30-year sentence, taken to international court in country first

Joe Parkin Daniels
Fri 12 Mar 2021

When Manuela, a 33-year-old mother of two from rural El Salvador, had a miscarriage in 2008, she did what most women would do: she went to hospital.

There she was handcuffed to her hospital bed, accused of having an abortion, and charged with aggravated homicide.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/mar/12/el-salvador-abortion-laws-on-trial-in-case-of-woman-jailed-after-miscarriage