Argentine women fight for access to abortions, 2005-2020

In 2003, the National Women’s Conference (ENM), a yearly feminist conference based in Argentina, held a workshop called “Strategies for Abortion Rights” in the nation’s province of Rosario. This workshop inspired the idea for launching a national campaign focused on the right to choose. In May of the following year, feminist groups organized another conference at the University of Buenos Aires to implement proposals from the 2003 ENM. That same year in November, ENM gathered signatures in support of legal abortions from a variety of organizations throughout the nation. 

On 28 May 2005, Argentina’s National Day of Action for Women’s Health, the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe, and Free Abortion, also referred to as the Campaign, formed to fight for abortion rights. This campaign included over seventy organizations, among them, Socialist Workers Movement (MST), the organization Catholics for the Right to Choose, along with a network of other reformist political and labor organizations called the “Articulation.” The campaign utilized the symbol of a green handkerchief as a way to pay homage to the white handkerchiefs held by the Grandmothers and Mother of Plazo de Mayo, who protested against the Argentinian government in regards to the millions of disappeared loved ones as a result of the military dictatorship throughout the 1970s, but they chose the color green because it was not associated with any other movement. 

On 25 November 2005, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the Campaign conducted their first official action by presenting a petition consisting of 100,000 signatures in support of making abortions legal and accessible to the Chamber of Deputies,  which also involved a march with a turnout of approximately 15,000 people in front of the Chamber. In order to gather these signatures, the Campaign organized debates and discussions in schools and universities and protested on busy street corners. In 2006, Dora Kledsky, a left-wing feminist lawyer, authored the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy (IVE) bill and presented it to legislators, who refused to include it on the legislative agenda. This policy would decriminalize abortions and upon a woman’s request, abortions would be accessible in public hospitals. The campaign continued to present this bill every two years, despite legislators' repeatedly refusing to include it on the agenda.  

Between 2005 and 2015, the Campaign continued to bring the bill to congress every two years. In 2015, they switched their tactics from lobbying to prioritizing popular mobilization. In 2015, the Ni Una Menos movement, launched in Argentina and then spread throughout the continent. This movement protested the mass amounts of femicides and violence against individuals who did not identify as men in Latin America. Although solely focused on abortion rights, the Campaign also worked with and was involved in the Ni Una Menos movement. On 8 March 2017, in solidarity with feminists across the world, the Campaign participated in the first International Women’s Strike, which involved strikes, marches, and continued to be held annually afterwards. 

On 21 February 2018, a mass green pañuelazo occurred, which refers to a demonstration in which there is a collective raising of the green handkerchief. This event made national headlines and forced then-president, Maurcio Macri to make a statement, which was the first time a political leader had publicly talked about abortion, even if it was a statement against it. On 1 March 2018, the IVE bill was presented for the seventh time and with signatures of seventy lawmakers from different parties, Macri enabled Congressional debate regarding the bill. On 14 June, the Chamber of Deputies passed the bill on  to the Senate. During the congressional commissions, the “Green Tide” took to the streets throughout the nation. This was known as Green Tuesdays, which the Campaign led, and involved open-mic rallies, chants, performances, and thousands of people in front of the Congress building. This campaign grew as female artists, professionals, students, and workers expressed their support publicly, despite abortion being a previously taboo topic. Because the Campaign had picked up so much momentum, different ideas on strategies emerged about how they should mobilize. This included Cabildeo, which involves institutional lobbying to gain votes, as well as an emphasis on popular mobilization.   

On 13- 14 June 2018, the Campaign held a vigil in all the main squares throughout Argentina, and over a million people gathered for hours and overnight demanding the passing of the IVE bill. On June 14, a counter protest occurred in which individuals held blue handkerchiefs to symbolize anti-abortion sentiments. On this day, Congress approved of the bill, which resulted in not only excitement and cheer from the Campaign but backlash from the Catholic Church, specifically from the Vatican and the Pope. The Pope, along with Catholic leaders in Argentina, disapproved of this bill. There were organized mass demonstrations holding the anti-abortion handkerchiefs. Additionally, students who wore or held the green handkerchief were disciplined by schools and any teachers who showed support for the pro-abortion campaign were fired from their jobs. On 8 August, the nation’s senators rejected the abortion bill with a majority voting against it.

On 28 May 2019, the Campaign revised the IVE bill and presented it to the Congress of Deputies. This same year was also an election year for the nation, during which presidential candidate Alberto Fernandez advertised his support for the IVE bill and its implementation if he were elected. On 10 December 2019,  Fernandez won the election and began the process of implementing the bill, but the nation underwent a full lockdown on 20 March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, the Campaign still held and planned actions but it moved into virtual activities. Towards the end of 2020, there were a few street performances to pressure legislation into focusing on the bill. On 20 December 2020, the IVE bill passed, legalizing abortion in Argentina.