In December 2020, Argentina’s parliament approved a bill to legalise abortion on request up to the 14th week of pregnancy. Abortion is now legal, free and safe in South America’s second-largest country.
While other countries attempt to criminialise (or recriminalise) abortion, it was a huge victory for Argentina’s feminist movements. These movements, which continued to campaign for legalisation throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and one of the world’s longest and strictest lockdowns, can teach us how to succeed despite overwhelming challenges.
I moved to Buenos Aires in February 2020 to learn with and from feminist movements fighting to legalise abortion, as part of my doctorate. I immediately felt the energy of the Marea Verde (Green Tide), the wave of feminist movements campaigning for sexual and reproductive rights and bodily autonomy. The Marea Verde was everywhere in the capital, making the colour green synonymous with the fight for legal abortion.
