Introduction: Abortion Rights Strategies in Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico

Abstract

In the past few years, abortion rights struggles in Latin America have gained significant momentum, as some countries in the region have liberalized their normative frameworks and expanded abortion access. This dossier focuses specifically on Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico, which saw notable changes in the direction of abortion decriminalization and legalization. These developments are in stark contrast with the 2022 decision by the Supreme Court of the United States to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, which in 1973 established the basis for legal abortion as a constitutionally protected right at the national level. Now, as a patchwork of disparate state policies and court interpretations regulate abortion across the United States—ranging from legal and accessible abortion to punitive bans and myriad practical obstacles—and as other countries across the hemisphere have also become arenas of contentious abortion politics, a transnational dialogue on abortion rights is sorely needed.