海角大神

Several weeks pregnant and about to start a job away from home, Lupita Ruiz had no doubts about wanting to end her pregnancy, despite knowing she could face jail time for having an abortion under a law in her state of Chiapas in southern Mexico.

She asked friends for help until she found a doctor two hours from her town who agreed to do it in secret.

Five years later, lawmakers in Chiapas are set to consider an initiative to halt prosecutions of women who terminate their pregnancies, part of a聽movement聽sweeping聽Latin聽America聽to loosen some of the world鈥檚 most restrictive abortion laws.

Several out of more than 20聽Latin聽American nations ban abortion outright, including El Salvador, which has sentenced some women to up to 40 years in prison. Most countries, including Brazil, the region鈥檚 most populous, allow abortion only in specific circumstances, such as rape or health risk to the mother.

Just Uruguay and Cuba allow elective abortions.

In Mexico, a patchwork of state restrictions apply, but the debate is shifting, Ms. Ruiz said.

鈥淲hen someone talked about abortion, they were shushed,鈥� said the activist, who helped draft the Chiapas initiative. 鈥淣ow I can sit down to eat a tamale and have a coffee and talk with my mom and my grandma about abortion, without anyone telling me to be quiet.鈥�

Change is palpable across the predominantly Roman Catholic region. A new Argentine president proposed legalization last month, Chilean activists are aiming to write broader reproductive rights into a new constitution, and female lawmakers in Mexico are resisting abortion bans.

The push can be traced to Argentina鈥檚 pro-abortion protests in 2018 by as many as 1 million women to back a legalization bill that only narrowly failed to pass 鈥� in Pope Francis鈥檚 home country.

Catalina Martinez, director for聽Latin聽America聽and the Caribbean at the Center for Reproductive Rights, a legal advocacy organization, said Argentina鈥檚 example inspired protests across聽Latin聽America.

鈥淚t was an awakening,鈥� she said.

Outrage at worsening gender violence in聽Latin聽America, where the number of femicides 鈥撀爐he killing of a woman or girl 鈥� has doubled in five years, has also spread awareness of the abortion rights聽movement聽and fueled demands for recognition of聽women鈥檚聽rights in a conservative, male-dominated society.

鈥淲omen are finally understanding that they are not separate issues,鈥� said Catalina Calderon, director for campaigns and advocacy programs at the聽Women鈥檚聽Equality Center. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the fact that you agree that we women are in control of our bodies, our decisions, our lives.鈥�

The rise of social media has afforded women opportunities to bypass establishment-controlled media and bring attention to their stories, Ms. Calderon said.

鈥淣ow they鈥檙e out there for the public to discuss and for the women to react, and say: 鈥楾his does not work. We need to do something,鈥欌�� Ms. Calderon said.

As in the United States, where conservatives have made gains in restricting a woman鈥檚 right to an abortion, there is pushback in聽Latin聽America聽against the calls for greater liberalization.

Brazil, under far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, is making it even harder for women to seek out abortions.

The Argentine Episcopal Conference has said it does not want to debate abortion during the coronavirus crisis, and alluded to comments by the Pope urging respect for those who are 鈥渘ot yet useful,鈥� including fetuses.

Yet trust in the Catholic Church, which believes life begins at conception, is fading, with many聽Latin聽Americans questioning its moral legitimacy because of sexual abuse by priests.

A spreading 鈥榞reen wave鈥�

Argentina could be first up for sweeping change, with a bill submitted to Congress by center-left President Alberto Fernandez seeking to legalize elective abortions.

Approval for legalization has risen eight percentage points since 2014, according to an August Ipsos poll, with support split nearly evenly between those who favor elective abortion and those who are for it only in certain circumstances.

鈥淭he dilemma we must overcome is whether abortions are performed clandestinely or in the Argentine health system,鈥� Mr. Fernandez said.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, a U.S.-based reproductive health research organization, an estimated 29% of pregnancies in聽Latin聽America聽and the Caribbean from 2015 to 2019 ended in abortion, encompassing 5.4 million women. The abortions are often clandestine, so figures are hard to determine.

The mass demonstrations in Argentina two years ago, known as the 鈥済reen wave鈥� protests, have reverberated.

Since mid-2018, lawmakers in Mexico have filed more than 40 proposals to end punishment for abortion, according to Mexican reproductive rights group GIRE.

In Chiapas, the decriminalization effort is the first of its kind since a brief period in the 1990s when abortion was legalized during the left-wing Zapatista rebellion.

Although Chiapas does not on paper punish abortion with prison, it can jail women for the 鈥渒illing鈥� of their infants.

With Mexico鈥檚 first leftist government in a century in power, national lawmakers are considering two initiatives to open up restrictions and strip away criminal punishments from places like Sonora state, where abortion can be punished by up to six years in prison.

Only two federal entities, Mexico City and Oaxaca, allow elective abortions.

Wendy Briceno, a Sonoran lawmaker who has backed a nationwide legalization bill, said the initiatives have a good chance to pass if the debate centers on聽women鈥檚聽health, especially given rising outrage over femicides.

In Chile, activists are celebrating a vote in October to write a new constitution as a chance to expand a 2017 law that permitted abortion to save a mother鈥檚 life, in cases of rape, or if the fetus is not viable.

Colombia, where the constitutional court has agreed to consider a petition to remove abortion from the penal code, could set an example, said Anita Pena, director of Chilean reproductive rights group Corporacion Miles.

Activists agree there is still a long way to go, with restrictive laws entrenched in many countries.

To Ms. Briceno, Brazil鈥檚 shift to the right under Mr. Bolsonaro, who has vowed to veto any pro-abortion bills, was a reminder to push even harder for abortion rights.

鈥淣o fight is ever finished,鈥� she said.聽

This story was reported by Reuters.