Challenges and opportunities for access to legal and safe abortion in Latin America based on the scenarios in Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.
The issue of decriminalization and legalization of abortion sparks controversies of a moral, religious, philosophical, and legal order. Regardless of individual positions, it is the State's duty to guarantee public policies and laws for all women, without discrimination, for them to have the capacity to decide if, when, how often, and with whom they want to have children. States have the duty to prevent avoidable deaths and sequelae from unsafe abortions. Restrictive abortion laws violate the human rights of women and adolescents, including the right to life, the right to physical and psychological integrity, the right to sexual and reproductive health, the right to equality and nondiscrimination, the right to be free of torture and inhumane and degrading treatment, and the right to live a life free of violence, among other rights 1. Due to restrictive laws and policies, every year in the world, approximately 22 million women risk their lives through unsafe abortion procedures, and 47,000 women die from this avoidable cause 2. Some 25% of the world population lives in countries with restrictive abortion laws 3. Women with the greatest risk of death and sequelae from unsafe abortions are young, indigenous, and black and living in poor urban or rural areas with less access to formal education and less information on sexual and reproductive health and contraceptive methods, besides being more exposed to abusive relationships and/or to being victims of sexual violence 4. Latin America is the region of the world with the most restrictive laws and the most induced abortions, most of which in unsafe conditions 5. In countries where access to legal abortion is limited, women turn to unsafe abortion 6, with devastating consequences for their health, lives, and families. Only three countries in the region have laws favorable to legal termination of pregnancy at the woman's request (Cuba, Guyana, and Uruguay) while four countries totally criminalize abortion (El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic) 7. An important aspect in the Latin American scenario is the growing number of women criminally indicted for abortion. Most of these women are reported to authorities by health professionals when they turn to healthcare services for treatment of obstetric complications 8. The agencies for monitoring and overseeing compliance with international human rights treaties have developed a growing interpretation that acknowledges human rights related to sexual and reproductive autonomy. On several occasions, the Committees have recommended that countries revise 1 Ipas Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
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