‘You can’t just remove the damage of the last four years’
For more than four years, countries that rely on American foreign aid have been reeling from the profound impact that Donald Trump’s reinstatement of the Mexico City policy has had on women.
The policy, known as the “global gag rule” among opponents, prevents non-government organizations that provide abortions, give counseling about abortions, or advocate for safe access to abortion from receiving US funding.
But while the policy is meant to stop abortions, research shows that it has the opposite effect and with deadly consequences for women. One 2019 study published in The Lancet found that during previous periods when the policy was in effect, abortions increased by 40% compared to periods where it was rescinded, contraceptive use dropped by 13.5% and pregnancies rose by 12%.
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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.