Global Day of Action for Legal, Safe and Free Abortion

Given that complications from unsafe and clandestine abortions are the leading cause of death for women in many Latin American and Caribbean countries, at the Fifth Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Meeting, held in Argentina in 1990, the Assembly of the Latin American Feminist Movement decided to declare September 28 as the Day for the Decriminalization of AbortionSince then, numerous women's organizations have joined the campaign to demand the decriminalization of abortion in the region.

The Guatemala-based Ocote Agency, with a regional perspective, notes that “in 2018, Argentina successfully brought the abortion bill to Congress. That same year, in Chile, a group of congresswomen introduced a bill to overcome the system of exceptions and decriminalize abortion up to the 14th week of pregnancy. In Ecuador, the National Assembly fell five votes short of approving the reform of the Penal Code, which would have extended the decriminalization of abortion to cases of rape, incest, lethal fetal malformations, and non-consensual artificial insemination. In Mexico, the state of Oaxaca approved abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy on September 25, 2019. Feminists throughout the region maintain the conversation about abortion and the legislative debate as a demand for social justice, human rights, and public health. In Latin America, 97% of people of reproductive age live in countries where abortion laws are highly restrictive.”