The best response to US criminalisation of abortion is decriminalisation elsewhere

Abstract

In 2008, 4.4 million abortions were performed in Latin America, 95% of which were "unsafe." 1 By 2015, the region recorded the highest number of maternal deaths per head. Women's rights groups catalysed legal and social mobilisation-"the green wave"-to decriminalise abortion. Their success, to which Mexico was central, can be measured by the fact that three of the region's four most populous nations have decriminalised abortion. The green wave movement had looked to women's rights in the United States for inspiration. Now, with the US Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade, sexual and reproductive rights are under threat globally. 2 3