Activists in Argentina and Brazil Give Us Hope in the Universal Fight for Reproductive Freedom
NARAL stands in solidarity with these brave women as we face our own crisis in abortion rights and women’s rights here at home
After a historic fight for reproductive freedom, Argentina fell just short of decriminalizing abortion. Yet, while reproductive freedom has still not been gained, a much harder battle was won: they’ve changed the broader culture, and paved the way for much more progress to come.
People all across Argentina poured their hearts into this fight because they know the stakes: when abortion is criminalized, women’s lives are put at risk. Illegal abortion is one of the top causes of maternal mortality in Argentina, accounting for 43 out of 245 maternal deaths a year. The Center for the Study of the State and Society estimates between 45,000 and 60,000 hospitalizations due to illegal abortion occur annually. In fact, 135 women in Argentina per day are hospitalized due to complications after an illegal abortion. And in every single one of these instances, each woman faced a cruel and difficult choice: risk going to jail for medical help, or risk dying.
The bill under consideration, which made abortion legal up to 14 weeks, was the first of its kind to pass through Argentina’s Chamber of Deputies. Its success is a sign of turning tides, as women in Argentina are rising up like never before. Activists held the largest ever march by women in the country’s history in support of the bill, and they’re just getting started. Clad in green bandanas, as part of the Ni Una Menos — not one less — movement, Argentines have launched a national conversation around violence against women and our right to control our own lives, bodies, and futures.
Argentina’s bill comes just on the heels of Brazil’s Supreme Court battle for the very same rights. Last week, the Brazilian Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether or not abortion should be made legal in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. As the women and families around Brazil wait for a decision, they are hopeful, but not without sacrifice. For example, Debora Diniz, a pro-choice leader and law professor at the University of Brasilia, was forced to undergo a witness protection program for her safety.
The case in Brazil could not come sooner: about 200 people die because of illegal abortion each year in Brazil, many of whom are poor, young, and black. One in five Brazilian women has an abortion by the age of 40. Yet because abortion is criminalized, women are forced to risk their lives, health, and safety to access this essential care. These stats prove a devastating truth we already unfortunately know too well: when abortion is criminalized, the number of deaths and injuries to women go up.
The shifting tides pushed by brave activists in Brazil and Argentina mark signs of great progress, but simultaneously serve as a sobering reminder of the dangerous path we could be headed down right here in the United States. Donald Trump is trying to appoint a second Supreme Court justice to serve for a lifetime appointment — a justice who can fulfill the Trump-Pence administration’s promise to send Roe v. Wade “to the ash heap of history where it belongs.” Make no mistake, Trump is gunning for a justice who would gut Roe, criminalize abortion, and punish women — and he’s found his man in Brett Kavanaugh.
If Roe is gutted and abortion is criminalized, women will be forced to stay pregnant, even if it risks our lives. We can’t and won’t go back to the days when abortion was illegal in this country, and we won’t accept a country where, like in Argentina, over 200,000 to 1.2 million women died from illegal abortion before Roe. This fight goes beyond Roe — this is a battle for the very heart and soul of our country and the result is about nothing less than whether women will be seen as equal in society.
And yet, hope is not lost. Earlier this year, the world also looked in awe at the organizing and passion that went into achieving Ireland’s incredible victory for reproductive freedom. Despite money flooding in from U.S. anti-choice organizations, the Irish people overwhelmingly voted to repeal an antiquated abortion ban that undercut women’s health and fundamental freedoms.
At NARAL, we stand with all people around the world who are tirelessly working to advance reproductive freedom — from Ireland to Brazil to Argentina, and in our own backyards here in the U.S. People all across the world are doing the impossible, standing up for women’s essential and fundamental rights against all odds. And as we fight a similar fight in the United States, this is the moment NARAL and our 2 million members were made for. Inspired by our fellow activists, we are mobilizing and organizing in unprecedented ways. We know this fight to protect Roe is the fight of our lives, and for our lives, and we’re getting to work.
