Thousands of women on Tuesday, September 28 joined demos across Latin America to demand abortion rights in their countries, marking International Safe Abortion Day.
Marches occurred in Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela demanding voluntary access to reproductive medical services without fear of punishment.
In El Salvador – where abortions are illegal even in cases of life threatening pregnancies, rape and incest – protesters held signs calling for safe and free legal abortions as they made their way to Congress. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has ruled out any abortion law reforms as part of the controversial constitutional changes planned by his government but Morena Herrera, a prominent Salvadoran feminist, said that such action did not need constitutional reform, according to Reuters.
“We are asking for minimum measures to add to the Penal Code to guarantee the life and integrity of women,” she said.
There were clashes between police and protesters in Mexico City on Tuesday at a rally which resulted 37 people, getting injured, according to the city government but celebrations in Chilean capital Santiago – where a bill to decriminalise abortion up to 14 weeks passed through the lower house of Congress.
Changes to some abortion laws are already underway in the region which is known to be very Roman Catholic. Last year, Argentina, via a referendum legalized abortions at up to 14 weeks into pregnancy, after previously imposing prison sentences of up to 15 years except in cases of rape or danger to the mother’s health.
The Chilean legislature’s action follow a watershed decision earlier this month from Mexico’s Supreme Court, which declared that penalizing abortions was unconstitutional. A decision that has paved the way for abortions being legalized throughout Mexico.
Abortion is also allowed in Uruguay, Cuba, Guyana, French Guiana, and four states in Mexico, including its capital Mexico City.
