The "Double Discourse" on Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Latin America: The Chasm between Public Policy and Private Actions

Abstract

This article examines how political controversies affect citizens' ability to exercise sexual and reproductive rights in Latin America. The article argues that societies accommodate conflicting views on sexuality and reproduction with a "double discourse system," which defends repressive or negligent public policies while privately tolerating unofficial and often illegal mechanisms that expand private sexual and reproductive choices. The examples of divorce policy in Chile and abortion policy in Colombia and Chile are highlighted to illustrate how this breach between public discourse and private actions operates in practice, and who is harmed by it. The article concludes by discussing the implications of this system for rights advocacy.

The sexual and reproductive rights of internally displaced women: the embodiment of Colombia's crisis

“…14 Despite the fact that abortion was illegal under any circumstances until May 2006, it has been widely documented as being available through clandestine channels in Colombia (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1996). Larger cities have clinics that perform safe procedures for a fee (Shepard, 2000). In mediumsized cities, abortions take place in the privacy of a doctor's office at a high cost (Morgan and Alzate, 1992).…”

Derechos reproductivos y políticas demográficas en América Latina .

“…El régimen militar interrumpió una de las experiencias pioneras de planificación familiar, reforzó el rol obstaculizador de la Iglesia cató-lica a la hora de debatir sobre derechos vinculados a la autonomía, la libertad personal y la sexualidad y, al mismo tiempo, habilitó formas de resistencia y estrategias que podían sortear la coerción impuesta. Los artilugios legales para obtener el divorcio aunque este no estuviera permitido y la persistencia del aborto como forma de controlar la natalidad, constituyen dos ejemplos de este "doble discurso" que tuvo como efecto retrasar el debate abierto y lograr la modificación de estas disposiciones (Shepard 2000).…”

Comparative Law and Religion: Three-Dimensional (3D) Approach

“…See Siems 2014, pp. 126-127. America, it is almost impossible not to link the studies to the role of the Catholic Church in the abortion debate (Goodwin & Whelan 2015;Oberman 2013;Johnson 2013;Kulcycki 2011;Shepard 2000). These scholarships, however, are not comparing the Catholic Church's theology on abortion with other religious traditions, but rather, they are comparing rights to abortion, and religion is only in the background, and often, the religious argument also gets distorted in the debate.…”