Women’s Movements and the Politics of Abortion Rights: Activists, Adversaries, and Ambivalent Allies

• In Event: Reproduction, Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Discourses in Latin America

Abstract

Without women’s movements it is unlikely that the fight for abortion rights would ever have emerged in Latin American politics. But in recent decades, both pro-choice activism and women’s movements have changed, as have their relationships with one another on the local, national, regional and global levels. This research examines the shifting interactions among the complex networks of traditional feminist movements, gender-based human rights advocates, “single-issue” abortion rights organizations, and increasingly visible anti-abortion women’s movements.

The paper compares four countries – Nicaragua, Argentina, Peru, and Chile – that are currently engaged in the debate for abortion rights. While each of these cases is home to a traditionally strong women’s movement, they have all moved in recent decades in a variety of directions. Their relationships with the state have changed, as have their connections with reproductive rights advocates. In addition, there have been shifts in focus, ideology, and strategies both within women’s movements and simultaneously within reproductive rights organizations. The work asks the fundamental question of whether abortion rights can best be won via “strategic essentialism” or “strategic distancing” between pro-choice advocates and women’s movements in Latin America, and, at what cost to stakeholders in a global feminist agenda? ​

Author

• Jane E Marcus-Delgado, College of Staten Island, CUNY