Latin america marks International Safe Abortion Day with rallies chanting ‘My body my choice!’. Few countries still outright prohibit abortions, such as the Dominican Republic and El Salvador, although the majority of Latin American feminists have spent decades trying to loosen these restrictive laws. On Thursday, thousands of women marched across the city to mark International Safe Abortion Day, many of them were dressed in green.
The Supreme Court’s recent ruling decriminalizing abortions at the federal level was applauded by protesters throughout Mexico. In Argentina the marches had a more gloomy tone because protesters were worried that the popularity of a populist far-right presidential contender ahead of the elections in October could spell danger for years of female activism. Large groups of women also expressed concern about the high rates of gender-based violence in the area as well as abuses directed at LGBTQ+ populations, even though abortion was the main topic of the rallies.
Thousands of women marched in Mexico City chanting ‘My body my choice’ and waving green handkerchiefs, which have come to represent the green wave abortion movement in the region. A lawsuit currently before the country’s Supreme Court may decriminalize the practice up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, even though abortion is currently banned save in situations of rape and birth abnormalities in the fetus. Brazil may be the next to decriminalise abortion.
The green wave will continue to spread, and Brazilian women are not the only ones. It is undoubtedly a victory, but the effort to decriminalize abortion in the public’s perception is now even more crucial.