Reproductive rights in Latin America

[5] Many native women commonly used medicinal herbs and plants to induce abortions such as cinnamon, rosemary, fuzzy maidenhair, garlic, pineable, begonia, cedro, huela de noche, key lime, bitter orange, lemon, coriander, Zarzabacoa comun, epazote, climbing orchid cactus, pegarropa, cotton, scarlet bush, mohintli, oregano, Frangipani alhelí, salab, styrax, feverfew, and hierba amarga.

[7] In the Mexica society, women were expected to be celibate until they were married and were punished for homosexuality, abortions, and infanticide by death because being a mother was seen has the most important role a woman could have.

[5] When the European powers colonized Latin America, they brought with them the Catholic Church's beliefs on reproductive rights.

Critics of the restrictive abortion laws of Latin America argue that this situation is created by the strong influence of the Catholic church in the region.

[11] It also defined strategies and goals for advancing such reproductive health and rights in Latin America through what is called the Cairo Programme of Action (CPA).

In order to assess the progress towards this goal, ECLAC monitors maternal mortality ratios and the proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel.

[16] This movement was propelled by the mass transition of many Latin American governments to democracies, thus opening the door to policy reform.

[18] The Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina, the caceroleos in Chile, trade unions in Uruguay, and the Casas de la Mujer (Women's Houses) in Nicaragua worked together with other male-dominated political resistance groups to resist authoritarian oppression and include feminist issues in the political reform.

[19] Inspired by the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo's use of white scarves during their protests, women in Argentina created the symbol of the green scarf to represent their pro-choice movement in 2003.

While every country in Latin America has differing laws and regulations regarding abortion, the general sentiment is that of disapproval.

Abortions in Latin America have had a history of being unsafe and illegal (especially for poor women), with recent improvements in both of those areas.

When U.S. President Donald Trump reinstated the Global Gag Rule on January 23, 2017, he prohibited all U.S. federal money from funding international organizations such as NGOs that "perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning".

[25] Sexual autonomy means that there is informed and explicit consent, where both parties are aware of the presence and type of birth control being used.

Many regions in Latin America still force young girls to continue their pregnancies to term, even if was conceived through rape.

[27] The common patriarchal structures within Latin American households make young girls especially vulnerable to pregnancy by rape perpetuated by a person close to them.

[29] Femicide in Latin America has stayed a pertinent issue over the years due to a variety of factors such as organized crime, gender roles, and ineffective legislation, despite efforts to reduce its occurrence.

[30] Despite the fact that all countries in Latin America have a law or policy in place to protect against or punish sexual violence, many of them lack the effectiveness to make a difference.

Increased investment in adolescent reproductive health contributes to improving the overall status of women as well as the reduction in poverty among families.

Latin American government as a whole did not recognize early pregnancy in adolescents to be an issue until 1984 during the International Conference on Population in Mexico City.

al, Latin America has a rate of adolescent maternity that is higher than other parts of the world, including developing countries [35] According to the UN Population Fund, young people have insufficient education and access to information and services that they need in order to make responsible decisions.

For the purpose of privacy from their communities and families, young persons often seek services from facilities not located directly in their own neighborhoods.

[54] Due to the lack of education around reproductive health in Latin America, many HIV positive women are forced to get sterilizations by their healthcare providers.

[55] Almost a quarter of women who get diagnosed with HIV in Latin America feel pressure to get sterilized in order to avoid transmitting their disease to their potential child.

[56] In the early to mid 20th century, doctors in Puerto Rico forced or coerced 1 in 3 women into having sterilizations, claiming it was the only true form of contraception.

[57] The stigma and discrimination around transgender people in Latin America can significantly increase their susceptibility to sexual violence and decrease their access to testing and treatment for STDs.

[58] Because of this lack of resources, the prevalence of HIV in transgender women in Latin America is estimated to be 49% higher than the general population.

[65] The increased uptake of sexual and reproductive health and family planning services has resulted in a marked drop in total fertility rates from approximately 4.6 children per woman in the 1970s to about 2.5 in 2013.

[68] That same year, the Constitutional Court of Peru ordered the Health Ministry to refrain from distributing emergency contraceptives to the public sector.

[69] In Barbados, abortion is legal in cases of fetal impairment, or endangerment to mother's life, and is only allowed with an authorized health professional in a specially licensed facility.

[4] In Peru, abortion is only legal when it is performed to save the mother's life, and is only allowed with an authorized health professional in a specially licensed facility.