– The Internet is an accessible channel that guarantees anonymity and confidentiality for those seeking information on safe abortion in contexts of high social and criminal criminalization.
– Clear and accessible information, based on scientific evidence, represents multiple benefits so that people can decide with certainty and without stigma.
– On Google alone, 9 million results appear when searching for the phrase “I don’t know whether or not to have an abortion,” the name of Ipas LAC’s new initiative that provides answers to the most frequently asked questions about this topic.
In the context of September 28th, Global Day of Action for Safe and Free Abortion, Latin America presents a diverse framework in the advance towards the defense of the right to decide. We observe in Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico and Uruguay more progressive laws that facilitate access to abortion and reflect the commitment to reproductive rights; as well as important initiatives in Chile and Ecuador, which seek the eradication of abortion from their penal codes. On a par with countries such as El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, which maintain a position that criminalizes abortion in all circumstances.
Advances in the region, from legal and regulatory frameworks, have facilitated access to safe abortion, but there are other factors that need to be addressed to guarantee this service. Fernanda Díaz de León Ballesteros, deputy director of Ipas Latin America and the Caribbean (Ipas LAC), explains that “decriminalization is just the first step on the road, it is not the goal.
One of the elements that must be ensured in order to guarantee reproductive rights is to provide safe information based on scientific evidence so that people can make informed decisions appropriate to their contexts. Therefore, the Internet is one of the fundamental channels to achieve this: in Latin America alone, 8 out of 10 people use it, according to the most recent data from the World Bank.
The nosesiabortarono.org website is a new information repository that will be available from October 3 to answer around 400 questions about the safe abortion procedure: how to accompany someone, types of procedures, places where they can be performed, legislation in various countries and how to reduce stigma and social criminalization.
“This is the other side of the movement, just as we have the marches, which are just as important, we also have the creation of content on social networks and other virtual platforms. The movement is made up of enormous diversity,” says María Antonieta Alcalde Castro, director of Ipas LAC.
More than 90 experts in the region are responsible for answering the 400 questions received during the longest safe abortion livestream in history, an activity with which the “I don’t know whether to have an abortion or not” initiative was unveiled on September 6, 2024.
“I don’t know whether to have an abortion or not” is an initiative created by Ipas LAC and Sarape Group, with the participation of more than 180 civil society organizations throughout Latin America, including in countries with severe legal restrictions on abortion, where the work of organizations has become essential to communicate the importance of reproductive rights and promote policy change.
“With the accompaniment and activism of the organizations, it has been possible to facilitate access to safe abortion procedures, and this has a visible impact on public health statistics, such as the decrease in unsafe abortions or, better yet, in maternal deaths from unsafe abortions,” said Laura Andrade, Ipas LAC’s Deputy Director of Communications.
The initiative also seeks to counter misinformation spread by anti-rights groups, with the help of scientifically backed data and explained in a friendly, accessible and clear approach.
“The anti-rights groups have studied us for a long time; they have found and replicated many of the strategies that feminist and human rights movements have used to inform. Now the dispute is not only in the street, they are also disputing this digital space,” said Joshi Lebán, member of Asociación Ameyalli and Sombrilla Centroamericana, during the live transmission of “I don’t know whether to have an abortion or not”.
What to do if I want to have an abortion?
Deciding whether or not to continue a pregnancy is a fundamental human right. All persons who require it should have access to information that allows them to make the best decision about the possibility of continuing or terminating the pregnancy. This question represents one of the most frequently asked questions on nosesiabortarono.org, and in addition to having been answered during the live transmission, it will be available on the website, which over time will provide answers to more questions, as many as we continue to receive.
The web platform, which was visited by 4,500 people from 49 countries during the 24-hour live broadcast alone, will make available to the general public a repository of information about abortion:
– nosesiabortarono.org, will host information on sexual and reproductive health, abortion access routes, safe abortion methods, support networks, emotional health, cultural beliefs, regulatory frameworks in the region, common myths, among others.
– People will be able to find written and video answers to all the questions submitted by the audience during the live broadcast.
– In addition to materials such as guides, infographics and informative clips with recommendations.
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Ipas LAC Media Liaison Coordinator
Irene Vázquez Gudiño
+52 55 3428 0544
Campaign co-author organizations
– Ipas Latin America and the Caribbean (Ipas LAC)
Ipas LAC is a regional organization that is part of an international nonprofit network working in the Americas, Africa and Asia to ensure that all women and people of childbearing capacity have the freedom and enjoyment of reproductive choice.
– Sarape Group
Sarape Group is a global agency that promotes ideas with a cause. It creates and develops social projects and campaigns since 2010.
Organizations co-hosting the campaign:
ACCEDER, Costa Rica; Agrupación Ciudadana por la Despenalización del Aborto, El Salvador; Amnesty International; Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir (CDD), Argentina; Centro de Derechos Reproductivos (CDR); Corporación Miles, Chile; Grupo de Información en Reproducción Elegida (GIRE), Mexico; INCIDE Joven, Guatemala; Ipas Bolivia; Las Libres, Mexico; Las Thias, Panama; Profamilia, Colombia; Promsex, Peru; Red Necesito Abortar, Mexico; Sombrilla Centroamericana; and Surkuna, Ecuador.
Organizations participating in the campaign:
Abortera Pericú; Aborto Legal México; Acción Feminista por la Paz; Algaraza, hacia la justicia social y restaurativa A.C.; APROSUVI; Aquelarre, laboratorio de diseño feminista; Asociación Alas de Guatemala; Asociación Colectivo Alejandría; Asociación por una Inclusión Social de las Mujeres y su Entorno (MUSOR); Asociación voces de mujeres; Balance Promoción para el Desarrollo y Juventud A.C.; BeRadFem Xela; Bolívar en Falda; Brujas Californias; Campaña Aborto Legal Morelos; Campaña por el Aborto Legal, hacia la justicia social y restaurativa A.C.; BeRadFem Xela; Bolívar en Falda; Brujas Californias; Campaña Aborto Legal Morelos; Campaña por el aborto legal, seguro y gratuito en Colombia; CEDES; CEJIL; Centro de Derechos de Mujeres; CLACAI; Coalición Feminista Esmeraldeña-COFESME; CODESER; COEEPEM A.C.; Colectiva Feminista La Revuelta; Colectiva Feminista MujerManglar; Colectiva Feminista Mujer Manglar; Colectivo Guendaracane’; Colegio de Especialistas en Enfermeria Perninatal de México A.C.Colmena Consultoras; Corazón Mixteco Atención Psicológica; Corporación Humanas; Corporación Mujeres Libres; Corporación Popular La Caracola; Cresiendo Perú; Cultivando Género A.C.; DAS Cancún; Ddespina; DAS Cancún; DAS Cancún.DAS Cancún; Ddeser Estado de México; Ddeser Guerrero; Ddeser Jalisco; Ddeser Quintana Roo; Divulvadoras; Domo, Centro Médico Argentina; Eliana Arancibia; Equipo Jurídico por los Derechos Humanos Honduras; Es delis con Eis; FCAM; Fe sin Violencias; FEMCHI; Fondo de Aborto para la Justicia Social MARÍA; Frente por los derechos sexuales y reproductivos Oaxaca; Fundación Chiapaneca para Mujeres Migrantes A.C.; Fundación MSI; Fundación MxM; Fundación Unidos por un México Vivo A.C.; GES Mujer Rosario Castellanos; Grupo de Enfermería por el Derecho a Decidir; Hesperian; Hysterfuria; Igualdad Sustantiva Yucatán A.C.; IM Swedish Development Partner; INCODESI; Iniciativas Feministas; Instituto de Liderazgo Simone de Beauvoir; Investigación en Salud y Demografía, S.C. (Insad); IPPF ACRO; Jacarandas; La casa rosada; La Chismecita; Landivarianos; Las Comadres Red de acompañamiento en aborto; Las Consejeras Oaxaca; Las cuidanderas; Las cuidanderas; Las ex exageradas azuerences; Las Sabinas; Libres y Autónomas Chihuahua; Lúminas Centro de Derechos Humanos A.C.; Marcha Disidente x la Memoria; Marea Verde Chihuahua; Marea Verde Guerrero; Marea Verde Guerrero; Marea Verde Tlaxcala; Matamoros Decide; MERAKI: Weaving community; Mexfam; Mi Útero Feliz A.C.; Michis Aborteros; PBA Health Ministry; Morada Violeta; Mujeres Organizadas de Tlaxcala; Mujeres Siempreviva; Mutantes Disidentes; No se metan con nuestras hijas; Odesyr A.C.; Old Witches Colectiva Anti Patriarcal; Oleada Feminista; Para Más Placer, Infosex; Pequespacio Feminista; Periferia Subversiva; Planned Parenthood Global; Plataforma municipal de justicia inclusiva de Trinidad; Polifonía; Pro Salud A.C.; Psicología Integral de Vanguardia; Quinta Ola; RadeT Red de acompañantas de Tlaxcala; Red Aborto Seguro Saltillo; Red ASALEAS; Red de Médicas por el Derecho a Decidir; Red de Médicas por el Derecho a Decidir; Red de profesionales de la salud por el derecho a Decidir; Red de Voluntariado Diversx; Red Huilense De Defensa y Acompañamiento en Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos (RHUDA); Red Nacional de Líderes y Lideresas Juveniles Tú Decides; REDAAS; REDefine CDMX; Redefine Durango; REDefine Puebla; Si hay mujeres en Durango A.C.; Siempre Unidas; Socorristas en Red; Te acompaño, Abrazaditas; Telefem A.C.; Tlali Bienestar y Conservación; Tribu Durangueña; Una mano amiga en la lucha contra el sida, A.C. (UMALCS); UNASSE, A.C.; Unidas Para Avanzar; Vidas Paralelas ONG; Vitala Global; Women’s Equality Center (WEC); Yapuranas Colectiva Feminista.
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