Feminist Debates on the Decriminalization and Legalization of Abortion in Latin America: a Scoping Review
Abstract
The discourse surrounding the decriminalization and legalization of abortion critically examines the clandestine and criminalized induced abortion. In Latin America, most countries do not have permissive laws or accessible safe abortion services; nonetheless, there has been a notable movement towards decriminalization and legalization of this practice in recent years. These advancements in access to and guarantees of sexual and reproductive rights are largely attributed to the efforts of feminist movements. This paper presents a scoping review of feminist perspectives on the decriminalization and legalization of abortion in the region. The analysis reveals that 70.3% of the reviewed publications stem from the health sciences field and notes a significant increase in literature from 2012 to 2022. This underscores the intrinsic link between the criminalization of abortion and the ongoing social inequalities regarding race, class, and gender within Latin America.
Keywords
Abortion, Feminism, Latin America, Human rightsReferences
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