Mexico, the latest Latin American country to break down barriers to abortion access: It's part of a bigger trend
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00:00 countries where elective abortion is legal without extenuating circumstances such as
00:04 rape or serious medical danger, remain the exception, not the rule in Latin America.
00:11 Cuba led the way, decriminalising the procedure in 1965, before the nearby USA. With the most
00:18 doctors per capita of any country in the world, healthcare is readily accessible and women
00:23 frequently exercise their right to free abortion.
00:26 Guyana then followed in 1995. More recently, the so-called "green wave" of feminist activists
00:33 have successfully pushed back on the conservative Catholic taboos on the continent, with legalisation
00:39 in Uruguay in 2012, Argentina in 2020 and Colombia in 2022. In Argentina, there were
00:47 an estimated 500,000 backstreet abortions per year before.
00:54 You could go to jail for deciding to have an abortion. And it's a big deal because many
00:58 women died for this to become law today.
01:02 For much of the continent, though, the procedure is only lawful in cases of rape or if the
01:07 patient or foetus is in medical danger. And in countries with full criminalisation, the
01:12 fight continues.
01:15 In El Salvador, women are still convicted of homicide for abortions, with prison sentences
01:21 of up to 40 years.
01:23 There are 20 women in prison due to this restrictive law.
01:27 A ruling in the landmark Beatriz versus El Salvador case is expected later this year.
01:34 A suit over the fate of a 21-year-old who died after being repeatedly denied a medically
01:39 needed abortion. The ruling could force a loosening in the country's laws.