The end of the constitutional defense of abortion in the United States on Friday encouraged opponents of abortion around the world, while advocates of abortion rights are worried that this could jeopardize recent steps towards legalization in their countries.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of the remarkable Rowe v. Wade ruling “shows that these types of rights are always at risk of being disseminated,” said Ruth Zurbrigen, an Argentine activist and member of the Companion Network of Latin America and the Caribbean. supporting abortion rights.
But in El Salvador, anti-abortion activist Sarah Larin expressed hope that the decision would step up campaigns against the procedure around the world.
“I believe that this decision will make it possible to eliminate abortion in the United States and around the world,” said Larin, president of Fundacion Vida SV.
“What about me here in Africa?”
In Kenya, Fonsina Archane watched the news of the decision on Friday and said she froze for a while in a state of panic.
“This is being done in America, which should be an example when it comes to the women’s rights movement,” said Archain, an abortion rights activist. “If this is happening in America, what would you say about me here in Africa? It’s a very, very sad day.”
She worried the decision would encourage opponents of abortion across Africa, who have invaded reproductive health clinics or threatened attacks. “There is no safe place on the continent,” she said.
Abortion in sub-Saharan Africa is now more dangerous than in any other region of the world, and the vast majority of women of childbearing age live in countries where abortion laws are severely or moderately restricted, according to the Gutmacher Institute. a new York-based research organization that supports abortion rights.
Archain said African civil society groups will need to come together to develop strategies on how to keep themselves and women safe. Only months ago, many saw hope when the World Health Organization released guidelines for quality abortion care, she said. “We had a step forward, and now we have to go back five steps.
The decision, which leaves lawmakers in the United States to decide whether to allow or ban abortions, has highlighted social media in Argentina, where a law legalizing electoral abortion by the 14th week of gestation came into force in January 2021 years later. of debate.
“There is justice in the world again”
Anti-abortion activists welcomed the decision, with legislator Amalia Granata tweeting: “There is justice in the world again. We will achieve this in Argentina !!”
In more conservative countries such as El Salvador, where abortions are illegal regardless of the circumstances and where about 180 women with obstetric emergencies have been prosecuted in the past two decades, Larin warned that the decision could inspire even more efforts to loosen restrictions on abortions outside the US
“Campaigns to promote abortion may intensify in our countries because funding and abortion clinics in the United States will be closed, as they have been in recent years,” she said.
WATCH | Unequal access is still a problem:
Access to abortion in Canada remains unequal
Although there are no laws in Canada restricting access to abortion, access remains a major problem in parts of the country, and not all women who want one can obtain it.
At the Vatican, the head of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Archbishop Vincenzo Palia, joined the American bishops, saying it was time for reflection, wound healing and civil dialogue.
“The fact that a large country with a long democratic tradition has changed its position on this issue is also a challenge for the whole world,” the academy said.
In Mexico, lawyer and activist Veronica Cruz said the decision could boost anti-abortion groups, but added that it was unlikely to have any impact in Mexico, where 10 of the country’s 32 states have legalized abortions by 12 weeks of gestation. Lately. years.
“Fear and anger”
She noted that the decision could lead to an increase in calls for help from American women who want to have an abortion in Mexico or buy abortion pills in Mexican pharmacies.
So far this year, local activists have accompanied about 1,500 American women who have traveled to Mexico for the purpose, Cruz said.
Ricardo Cano, with the anti-abortion group National Front for Life, also doubts that the decision will have any impact in Mexico or elsewhere in Latin America, given the progress of left-wing ideologies in the region.
Demonstrators are gathering in front of the United States Embassy in London to protest the decision to abolish the US right to abortion on Friday. (Ashley Rugles / PA / Associated Press)
Colombia, which became the last Latin American country to expand access to abortion in February, will also not be affected by the decision, said Catalina Martinez Coral, director of Latin America and the Caribbean at the Center for Reproductive Rights.
Prior to US President Joe Biden’s trip abroad, leaders of at least two members of the Group of Seven called the decision “appalling.”
“No government, politician or man should tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her body,” said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, adding that he “cannot imagine the fear and anger” of women in USA. experience after the decision.
WATCH | “A difficult day,” says Trudeau.
“Today is a difficult day,” Trudeau said after Rowe’s ruling over Wade
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is considering a decision by the US Supreme Court to overturn decades-old abortion case law.
Abortion is a fundamental right, Macron said
The French Foreign Ministry called on the US federal authorities “to do everything possible” to ensure that American women have permanent access to abortion, calling it a “health and survival problem.” French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that “abortion is a fundamental right of all women.”
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said: “Watching the abolition of a woman’s basic right to make decisions on her own body is incredibly embarrassing. Here in New Zealand, we have recently passed laws to decriminalize abortion and treat it as a health problem, not a criminal one.
Tedros Adanom Gebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, said on Twitter that he was “concerned and disappointed” by the decision, saying it was reducing both “women’s rights and access to health care”.
The UN Agency for Sexual and Reproductive Health has said that whether abortion is legal or not, “it happens too often” and global data show that restricting access makes abortion more deadly.
The United Nations Population Fund issued a statement following the Supreme Court ruling, noting that its 2022 report says that almost half of all pregnancies in the world are unwanted and more than 60% of those pregnancies can end in abortion.
“A staggering 45 percent of all abortions in the world are dangerous, making them the leading cause of maternal death,” the agency said.
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