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Gallery|Health

Protesters demand abortion rights across Latin America

Thousands of women across Latin America rallied to call for access to legal, safe and free abortion.

Abortion rights demonstrators march during a Global Day of Action for access to legal, safe and free abortion in Santiago, Chile. [Esteban Felix/AP Photo]
Published On 29 Sep 202129 Sep 2021
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Thousands of women joined demonstrations across Latin America to demand abortion rights in their countries, marking the Global Day of Action for access to legal, safe and free abortion.

Marches were called on Tuesday in Venezuela, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Colombia, demanding voluntary access to reproductive medical services without fear of punishment.

Large groups of demonstrators gathered in the Chilean capital Santiago, where the Congress has agreed to hold future debates on an abortion rights law.

Demonstrators in Venezuela marched through downtown Caracas, with organisations from neighbouring states also participating in the march.

Demonstrations in Mexico City were marked by heavy police presence.

Demonstrators painted fences protecting monuments and sprayed riot policewomen who held fire extinguishers.

A recent decision by the Mexico Supreme Court of Justice ruled out a local law that criminalised women who seek abortions, but a new law did not immediately take effect.

Dozens gathered outside Peru’s Palace of Justice, demanding that judges change the laws in place, which can impose prison sanctions for women who get an abortion.

Abortion is already allowed in some parts of Latin America, such as in Uruguay, Cuba, Argentina, Guyana, French Guiana, and four states in Mexico, including its capital, Mexico City.

Women with their faces covered march to demand abortion rights in Caracas, Venezuela. [Ariana Cubillos/AP Photos]
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A woman holds a sign that reads in Spanish "Sex education to decide, contraceptives to avoid abortion," during a rally outside the parliament in Caracas. [Ariana Cubillos/AP Photos]
Women march during the Global Day of Action in Quito, Ecuador. [Dolores Ochoa/AP Photos]
Women demand voluntary access to reproductive medical services without fear of punishment in Quito. [Dolores Ochoa/AP Photos]
Abortion rights demonstrators march in Santiago, Chile. The lower house of Chile's Congress has taken a step toward decriminalising abortion in most cases, voting to craft a law barring prosecution of women who get abortions in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. [Esteban Felix/AP Photos]
A woman climbs a fence around the Angel of Independence monument, during an abortion rights march in Mexico City. [Ginnette Riquelme/AP Photos]
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Women clash with the police in Mexico City. [Ginnette Riquelme/AP Photos]
Women hold signs reading "Abort the patriarchy" and "I abort the macho" during an abortion rights demonstration in Mexico City. [Ginnette Riquelme/AP Photos]


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