Latin America is home to some of the few countries of the world with a complete ban on abortion and minimal policies on reproductive rights, but it also contains some of the most progressive reproductive rights movements in the world. Debates on reproductive rights in the region occur over abortion, sexual autonomy, reproductive healthcare, and access to contraceptive measures. Modern reproductive rights movements most notably include the Green Wave (Marea Verde), which has led to much reproductive legislation reform. Cuba has been a regional leader for more liberal reproductive laws, while other countries like El Salvador and Honduras have increased restrictions on reproductive rights.
History
Pre-colonial
Although little information exists on indigenous reproductive rights before the era of colonization, the same issues that persist today were also present back then, and the various diverse tribes of Latin America had varying positions on reproductive rights. Many native women commonly used medicinal herbs and plants to induce abortions such as cinnamon, rosemary, fuzzy maidenhair, garlic, pineable, begonia, cedro, huela de noche, key lime, bitter orange, lemon, coriander, Zarzabacoa comun, epazote, climbing orchid cactus, pegarropa, cotton, scarlet bush, mohintli, oregano, Frangipani alhelí, salab, styrax, feverfew, and hierba amarga. These methods were used when the last Aztec governor, Moctezuma Xocoyotzin, impregnated 150 women and mandated that they get abortions. Another indigenous group, the Wichí, prioritized the mother's health and thus had a tradition of aborting the first pregnancy of each woman to make the next pregnancy safer. In the Mexica society, women were expected to be celibate until they were married and were punished for homosexuality, abortions, and infanticide by death because being a mother was seen has the most important role a woman could have.
Colonialism and religious traditions
When the European powers colonized Latin America, they brought with them the Catholic Church's beliefs on reproductive rights. Even today, religion in Latin America is characterized by the predominance of Roman Catholicism, although there is also increasing Protestant influence (especially in Central America and Brazil) as well as by the presence of other world religions. Critics of the restrictive abortion laws of Latin America argue that this situation is created by the strong influence of the Catholic church in the region. The Catholic Church believes that the only purpose of sex is for reproduction and thus do not traditionally believe in the use of contraceptives, birth control, or abortion, but rather they encourage abstinence until marriage.
International Conference on Population and Development The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development defined reproductive health as noted above. It also defined strategies and goals for advancing such reproductive health and rights in Latin America through what is called the Cairo Programme of Action (CPA). The CPA has three quantitative targets: (1) Reducing overall mortality, which implies an increase in life expectancy, reducing specific mortalities (2) Universal access to education, especially for girls (3) Universal access to reproductive health services, including family planning. Adopted by the region at the conference, some improvements have been seen since the adoption of the CPA. Reproductive rights have become recognized in the constitutions of Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela.
Millennium Development Goals in Latin America The Millennium Development Goals are a descriptive framework by which to monitor response to eight specific goals. They were announced in the Millennium Declaration in September 2000. Whether or not a country is on track to meeting these goals—in the case of Latin America—is tracked by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). One particular goal in regard to reproductive health, Goal 5, seeks to improve maternal health within the region. The first target of Goal 5 is to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters between 1990 and 2015. In order to assess the progress towards this goal, ECLAC monitors maternal mortality ratios and the proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel. The second target of Goal 5 is to achieve universal access to reproductive health by 2015. This target is assessed by viewing contraceptive prevalence rates, adolescent birth rates, antenatal care coverage and percentages of unmet need for family planning. In order to achieve these goals, many actions have been taken, including the growing institutionalization of deliveries and the increased number of personnel trained to provide care during childbirth and emergency obstetric care.
1970's feminist movement
Women in Latin America first began advocating for abortion rights in the 1970s during the worldwide feminist movement. This movement was propelled by the mass transition of many Latin American governments to democracies, thus opening the door to policy reform. In addition to abortion rights, feminists in this era also advocated for economic independence, equal pay, and political equality. The Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina, the caceroleos in Chile, trade unions in Uruguay, and the Casas de la Mujer (Women's Houses) in Nicaragua worked together with other male-dominated political resistance groups to resist authoritarian oppression and include feminist issues in the political reform. During this period, Cuba acted as an inspiration to many surrounding countries when it became the first Latin American country to legalize access to safe abortions in 1961.
Marea verde
Inspired by the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo's use of white scarves during their protests, women in Argentina created the symbol of the green scarf to represent their pro-choice movement in 2003. These distinct green scarves have become characteristic of what is known as the "Marea Verde" or "Green Wave", which has made its way out of Argentina and across Latin America. The color green was chosen to change the narrative around the concept of the "pro-choice" to one that is synonymous with life and growth. This symbol has increased the discussion of reproductive rights not only in Latin America, but around the world.
Issues
Abortion
Abortion is a highly controversial aspect of reproductive rights. While every country in Latin America has differing laws and regulations regarding abortion, the general sentiment is that of disapproval. Abortions in Latin America have had a history of being unsafe and illegal (especially for poor women), with recent improvements in both of those areas. Most of these improvements can be attributed to modern contraception, emergency care, as well as education. Similarly, advocacy and national conflict has grown surrounding abortion rights in Latin America. The region has seen a steady increase of feminist abortion activists, despite religion making the issue taboo.
According to the World Health Organization, in 2008, approximately "4.2 million abortions were conducted in Latin America and the Caribbean, almost three-fourths of them in South America. Virtually all these procedures were illegal and many were unsafe."
In 2011, the number of unsafe abortions in Latin America rose to 4.2 million annually. Unsafe abortions account for a large proportion of maternal deaths. For example, in Argentina unsafe abortions account for 31% of the maternal mortality rate.
Strict abortion laws are accompanied by strict punishments. For example, in El Salvador, a woman can be jailed for up to 40 years for aborting. These punishments do not take into consideration the cause of the pregnancy, due to the fact that many of the imprisoned women were raped or had involuntary abortions
International legislations also have an effect on abortion rights in Latin America. When U.S. President Donald Trump reinstated the Global Gag Rule on January 23, 2017, he prohibited all U.S. federal money from funding international organizations such as NGOs that "perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning".
Sexual violence In Latin America, sexual violence including rape, assault, harassment, and femicide are prominent issues that impact a person's sexual and reproductive agency and autonomy. Sexual autonomy means that there is informed and explicit consent, where both parties are aware of the presence and type of birth control being used. Lack of consent leads to more unintended pregnancies. Many regions in Latin America still force young girls to continue their pregnancies to term, even if was conceived through rape. The common patriarchal structures within Latin American households make young girls especially vulnerable to pregnancy by rape perpetuated by a person close to them. These gender dynamics also contribute to widespread intimate partner violence (IPV), with 1 in 4 women having experienced IPV in their lifetime.Smit, H. and Fraser, E. (2022). Latin America Regional Analysis, Ending Violence Helpdesk Research Report No. 10. London UK: Ending Violence Helpdesk Latin America also has an 11% rate of non-partner sexual violence, which is almost double the global average. Femicide in Latin America has stayed a pertinent issue over the years due to a variety of factors such as organized crime, gender roles, and ineffective legislation, despite efforts to reduce its occurrence. Despite the fact that all countries in Latin America have a law or policy in place to protect against or punish sexual violence, many of them lack the effectiveness to make a difference.
Adolescent maternity and reproductive health Protecting the health of adolescents is an important public health priority. Increased investment in adolescent reproductive health contributes to improving the overall status of women as well as the reduction in poverty among families. Adolescent health must be contextualized within reproductive health and thus public health. Latin American government as a whole did not recognize early pregnancy in adolescents to be an issue until 1984 during the International Conference on Population in Mexico City.
In Latin America, 38% of women become pregnant before the age of 20 and almost 20% of births are to teenage mothers. While an overall universal trend towards earlier average age of menstruation can be seen, the mean age of marriage has declined. This implies that adolescents who are coerced into marriage are unprotected in terms of reproductive rights for longer periods of time. Brazil, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic are recognized as three of the world's worst-affected countries. Furthermore, according to Cindy Paola CM et al., Latin America has a rate of adolescent maternity that is higher than other parts of the world, including developing countries
According to the UN Population Fund, young people have insufficient education and access to information and services that they need in order to make responsible decisions. The importance of education is exemplified by how girls in Latin America who have completed only up to primary education or less have a higher probability of adolescent pregnancy. Further, many young girls are dying because their bodies cannot support pregnancies. Girls under 15 are four times more likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth than an adult woman. For example, facilities are frequently in areas inaccessible to young individuals. For the purpose of privacy from their communities and families, young persons often seek services from facilities not located directly in their own neighborhoods.