Member of Parliament Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn. Credit: Kate Chappell
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Feb 12 2021 (IPS) - It was a joyful, tearful celebration in the early morning hours of Dec. 30, 2020 for countless Argentinians when they heard the news: the senate had legalized terminations up to 14 weeks of pregnancy. Prior to this, activists have said that more than 3,000 women died of botched, illegal abortions since 1983. And across the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region, this renewed sense of optimism was compounded after President Joe Biden rescinded what is known as the “global gag rule,” which essentially denied funding to international non-profit organizations that provided abortion counseling or referrals.
Image
Standing in solidarity with women and girls to mark the 2020 global campaign of 16 days of activism to end gender based violence (GBV), the Mozambican Association of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (AMOG), together with its partner Mozambique Radio, launched an information campaign to spread awareness of Mozambique’s abortion law.
Radio listeners in Sofala, Maputo, Tete, Nampula and Xai Xai tuned in to Mozambique radio and participated in a series of radio call-in shows to ask questions and provide thoughts on how awareness and understanding of Mozambique’s abortion law could be strengthened.
Recent history of abortion law in Mozambique
While Mozambique’s abortion law was liberalised in 2014 after a successful campaign led by civil society that AMOG was part of, it took a further six years of campaigning to ensure that the penal code was revised and progressive language included in it to legalise abortion. Mozambique’s abortion law now permits women to have legal a
492 3 minutes read
In December 2020, a 12-year-old girl who had been sexually assaulted gave birth to twins after being denied the right to an abortion in Argentina. Even though federal law granted exceptions in the case of rape, authorities were accused of deliberately delaying action on the child’s pregnancy until she was too far along for the procedure to be administered.
Tragically, this is the reality when abortion is not legal. Each year, in Argentina, approximately 38,000 women are hospitalized because of dangerous, clandestine terminations. More than 3,000 women have died as a result since 1983. These inhumane circumstances led to mass movements for reproductive rights and the eventual legalization of abortion.
Daniel Politi and Ernesto Londoño, The New York Times Published: 02 Jan 2021 06:01 PM BdST Updated: 02 Jan 2021 06:01 PM BdST Women gather outside the Congress building in Buenos Aires, Dec 30, 2020, before the Senate announced the passage of a bill legalising abortion. The fight for legalisation began decades ago, but it gained traction only as more women became lawmakers and a massive grass-roots effort shifted the conversation. Sarah Pabst/The New York Times Women gather outside the Congress building in Buenos Aires, Dec 30, 2020, before the Senate announced the passage of a bill legalising abortion. The fight for legalisation began decades ago, but it gained traction only as more women became lawmakers and a massive grass-roots effort shifted the conversation. Sarah Pabst/The New York Times
Argentina Legalizes Abortion, a Milestone in a Conservative Region
The Senate vote on Wednesday was a major victory for Latin America’s growing feminist movement, and its ripple effects are likely to be widespread.
Supporters of legalizing abortion celebrating outside Congress in Buenos Aires on Wednesday.Credit.Sarah Pabst for The New York Times
Dec. 30, 2020
BUENOS AIRES Argentina on Wednesday became the largest nation in Latin America to legalize abortion, a landmark vote in a conservative region and a victory for a grass-roots movement that turned years of rallies into political power.
The high-stakes vote, during 12 hours of often dramatic debate in the Senate, gripped the nation and exposed the tensions between a conservative society long influenced by the Roman Catholic Church, and a more secular generation that is fired up by a growing feminist movement.