As part of the events marking September 28, Global Day of Action for Access to Legal and Safe Abortion, Ipas Latin America and the Caribbean (Ipas LAC) and the collective project Vulvísima are creating two mural installations in Mexico City to bring a conversation about abortion, reproductive autonomy, and the right to care into the public sphere.
The artworks are located at 65 Plan de Agua Prieta Ave., Miguel Hidalgo, across from the IPN School of Economics. Both murals aim to bring this conversation to the people who pass through these spaces every day.
The initiative is carried out in collaboration with the following organizations: Ddeser, Catholics for the Right to Choose, Fondo MARIA, GIRE, Simone de Beauvoir Leadership Institute, REDefine CDMX, Antígona, Doctors of the World, Libertinas, Michis Aborteros, and Abortistas MX.
Talking about abortion as part of the right to healthcare and autonomy
The proposal is based on a central idea: making decisions about one’s own reproductive life is also a form of self-care. This is not limited to individual practices related to physical or emotional well-being. It also implies that governments must guarantee the necessary conditions for making free and informed decisions about sexual and reproductive health. From this perspective, discussing abortion means discussing dignity, well-being, and autonomy, as well as the ability to access timely, safe, and high-quality health information and services.
Care as a human right
This conversation takes on special significance following the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ recognition of the right to care as an autonomous human right.
For Ipas LAC, incorporating sexual and reproductive health into this conversation acknowledges that decisions about whether to continue a pregnancy are also part of individuals’ autonomy and their right to care for themselves. It also recognizes that governments have a responsibility to ensure the conditions necessary for the exercise of these rights.
Art, for its part, can foster new ways of approaching topics that have historically been shrouded in silence and stigma:
“A mural remains part of everyday life and has the power to transform public spaces into places for reflection, dialogue, and advocacy that allow us to discuss abortion from a health and human rights perspective. Healthcare is a right that entails guaranteeing autonomy over our bodies and life plans. Access to safe abortion is an essential part of that right, and its legalization is a necessary condition for guaranteeing it,”, says Marisol Escudero Martínez, deputy director of Advocacy at Ipas Latin America and the Caribbean.
September 28 is a day of international mobilization for access to legal and safe abortion. In this context, Ipas LAC seeks to help ensure that reproductive decisions are recognized as part of people’s life plans, and that the government must guarantee the necessary conditions for exercising that autonomy.
Check out the complete gallery of the mural creation process here.
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