Abortion rights in the crosshairs: a transnational perspective on resistance strategies

Abstract

Soon after the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision asserting a constitutional right to abortion, activists in Argentina organized a protest in front of the U.S. embassy. The demonstration conveyed the need for a transnational defense of reproductive rights, particularly in light of the outsized role of the U.S. in global politics. The June 24, 2022 decision that voided Roe v. Wade (Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization) raises grave concerns about resurgent forms of authoritarianism even in democracies. Activists in Argentina have paid attention to these developments and have been ready to defend the relatively recent legalization of abortion in the country. In fact, Argentina presents an interesting example of a country that has been moving in a different direction than the United States. This experience can provide important insights about resistance strategies in contexts of abortion rights restriction.

Keywords:

• Abortion
• Argentina
• authoritarianism
• democracy
• United States

Disclosure Statement

The author reports there are no competing interests to declare.

Notes

1 This and all quotes of text originally in Spanish were translated by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This commentary was partly informed by research conducted in Argentina over the years, including with the support of the 2019 Faculty Research Award Program (FRAP B), University at Albany, SUNY.

Notes on contributors

Barbara Sutton

Barbara Sutton is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University at Albany, SUNY. She is also affiliated with the departments of Sociology and of Latin American, Caribbean, and U.S. Latino Studies. Prof. Sutton is originally from Argentina, where she earned a law degree, and was trained in the United States as a sociologist. She is the author of Bodies in Crisis: Culture, Violence, and Women’s Resistance in Neoliberal Argentina, winner of the Gloria E. Anzaldúa Book Prize by the National Women’s Studies Association. Her book, Surviving State Terror: Women’s Testimonies of Repression and Resistance in Argentina received Honorable Mentions by the American Sociological Association Sex and Gender Section and the New England Council of Latin American Studies. She co-edited (with Nayla Luz Vacarezza) Abortion and Democracy: Contentious Body Politics in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.