A Woman's Place · Episode 11 of 12 · 21 min
The Body: The Green Wave, Dobbs, and the Great Reversal
In one decade the two halves of the hemisphere reversed roles. Latin America, long the most restrictive region on abortion, produced Ni Una Menos and a wave of legalization, while the United States overturned the constitutional right in Dobbs. El Salvador's total ban sits at the southern edge. The green bandana, heir to the Madres' white scarf, now appears in Washington.
Who's who
- Marcela Ojedajournalist whose tweet helped convene the first march
- Diana Russellsociologist who popularized the term femicide in 1976
- Marcela Lagardeanthropologist who developed feminicidio as a concept
- Samuel Alito+3 more episodesjustice who wrote the Dobbs majority opinion
- Margaret CarpenterNew York physician sued by Texas over mailed abortion pills
- Javier Milei+2 more episodesArgentine president who defunded the abortion law
Where it happens
- Ciudad Juarez, Mexicoorigin case of feminicidio as a legal concept
- El Salvador+3 more episodestotal abortion ban since 1998
- Argentina+2 more episodesenacted legal abortion in December 2020
Timeline
- June 3, 2015first Ni Una Menos march
- December 30, 2020Argentina legalizes abortion to 14 weeks
- September 7, 2021Mexican Supreme Court rules criminalizing abortion unconstitutional
- June 24, 2022Dobbs overrules Roe and Casey
- December 20, 2024Inter-American Court rules in Beatriz v. El Salvador
Still debated
Scholars offer religion-realignment and institutional-design explanations for the inversion without settling it. Both reproductive-rights groups and pro-life lawyers claim vindication from the Beatriz judgment, and the counts of states with bans or decriminalization keep changing.
← PreviousPaper Rights, Real Power: How the South Passed the NorthNext →Four Generations: The Verdict, Measured by One Family
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