The Center for American Progress (CAP) released research that lists the driving time of Latina women to access abortion clinics in the United States in each congressional district. As a result, it was found that, in relation to other ethnic groups, Latinas are those who travel the greatest distances to reach hospitals and undergo the procedure. On average, driving time is two hours in states with no restrictive prohibitions.
In order to establish a dialogue with the study, we primarily highlight the book “Violence against Latina immigrants: citizenship, inequality and community” by Roberta Villalón of Department of Sociology and Anthropology at St. John's University, NY, in which the context of women's vulnerability is explored from various aspects: nationality, race, ethnicity, language, religion, immigration status (documented or undocumented), [.. .] and socioeconomic status (Villalón, 2010, p. 10 apud Abraham, 2000; Menjívar; Salcido, 2002; Adelman, 2004). According to Villalón, this discomfort is not solely based on gender.
The case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization is emblematic in this context and serves as a true watershed in the Women's Well-Being Topic: The US Supreme Court's 2022 ruling brought an end to nearly five decades of constitutional protection for abortion, established in Roe v. Wade in 1973. Since then, 14 States have enacted restrictions on abortion, almost total bans, and 7 states have announced prohibition of abortion between 6 and 18 weeks of gestation, as demonstrated by CAP.
It is worth noting that the power to determine whether abortion will be legal now returns to the states, the majority of which appear to be prepared to ban it almost completely. In fact, many have already acted to the point of not even allowing care in cases of rape, incest or the patient's health.
Therefore, being the ethnic group most affected by this measure, Latinas face problems both in terms of time (travel) and financial resources, considering wage losses, accommodation and childcare expenses.
The decision that revoked 50 years of access to abortion
“Roe v. Wade” was one of the great milestones in United States jurisprudence when, in 1973, it guaranteed the granting of the right to choose to have a safe abortion without intense government restrictions. In 2022, however, the country's Supreme Court decided that the US Constitution would not have the power to grant the right to abortion, redirecting this decision to each of the states, individually.
The decision to overturn “Roe v. Wade” mirrored the significant changes observed in the constitution of the Supreme Court, which became more largely composed of a conservative majority. The reinterpretation of the Constitution was based on the argument that the set of federal legal norms does not explicitly mention abortion, which would no longer confer the execution of an abortion as a constitutional right. The justification is that there is no historical and concrete basis to allow the granting of the act and that, therefore, the decision should be taken by the population from the citizen representatives elected in each of the States.
Profile of women most affected by abortion restrictions
Since the decision was made in 2022, the annulment of “Roe v. Wade” continues to affect millions of women in the United States, but the groups most affected are Black and Latina women. The problem is worsened by understanding that it is Latinas who face the most barriers in maintaining their health, especially when considering low insurance coverage rates, lack of linguistic support and cultural adaptation, and discrimination and mistrust among service providers. In this sense, it is necessary to bring into focus the fact that not only individual health, but also the economic and social future of the mother and child begin to be affected when there is no access to safe abortion.
As an example, the non-governmental organization National Partnership for Women & Families analyzed a set of data from the five-year IPMUS USA census and found that “almost 6,7 million Latinas — 43% of all Latinas ages 15 to 49 — live in the 26 states that have banned or are likely to ban abortion. [...] When mothers are unable to access abortion care, the economic security and development of their existing children are negatively affected. [...] More than 3 million Latinas living in these states are economically insecure. Low-income women are especially affected by state bans, as they are more likely to not have access to the funds needed to travel to another state for abortion care. Furthermore, women who are denied abortion care are significantly more likely to be pushed further into poverty.”
Still with regard to data analysis, it was identified that Latin American women residing in the three states of Texas, Arizona and Florida represent almost three quarters of Latinas in states that prohibit abortion and almost a third of all Latinas of reproductive age in the country.
Along the same lines, in an interview with BBC News (2022), Rebecca Rehm Tuggle, administrator of a clinic in Louisiana, said that if abortion becomes illegal in the state, there will be more poverty and deaths, as health inequalities for low-income patients and minority ethnic groups are already prevalent. Furthermore, the majority of women who use the service already have one or more children at home: six in 10 women who abort are already mothers, according to 2019 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Despite, however, the importance of analyzing the socio-political context of the location of residence and how the laws of each state interfere in the lives of these women, it is of great importance to recognize that the difficulties go much further. Firstly, it is understood that the greater economic costs to be spent on carrying out an abortion are not a possibility for a large part of the Latin American community, in which women face significant wage disparities and are in the service sector, mostly in low-paying jobs. It is not only the cost that presents itself as an impasse, but also the inflexibility of obtaining paid sick leave and mandatory rest after the abortion, in these cases.
The political spectrum of American states affects the level of restriction on health care and driving time
Research from the Center for American Progress reports that women in Republican-represented districts often face greater challenges accessing abortion services. They must travel nearly 2.5 times further to obtain an abortion compared to those in Democratic-represented districts, resulting on an average of 119 minutes of travel in Republican districts versus 49 minutes in Democratic districts. This difference explains how political affiliation influences access to abortion, with Republican states implementing more severe restrictions.
Not only is access to abortion under threat in states with conservative representation: rights related to privacy are as well. The “Roe v. Wade”, which previously guaranteed the right to abortion, was based on privacy rights established in cases such as “Griswold v. Connecticut”, which protected the right to contraception. However, decisions like “Lawrence v. Texas” and “Obergefell v. Hodges”, which preserved rights to marriage and same-sex relationships, are also being questioned. Conservatives have openly expressed a desire to repeal additional protections, threatening access to contraception and in vitro fertilization (IVF), and displaying hostility toward same-sex marriage.
The Green Wave and the perspective of international solidarity
“Green Wave” – in Portuguese “Onda Verde” or “Maré Verde” – is a movement that began in Latin America for reproductive rights that defends access to abortion throughout the region.
Among the advances achieved through Green Wave's efforts, the Center for Reproductive Rights — a legal organization defending reproductive rights — identified: the achievement of the decision from Mexico's highest court to decriminalize abortion nationwide, at the federal level, in 2023; the decriminalization of abortion in Argentina up to 14 weeks of gestation in 2020; a 2021 decision by the Supreme Court of Mexico that declares the absolute criminalization of abortion unconstitutional and the decision by the Constitutional Court of Colombia to decriminalize abortion up to 24 weeks of gestation in 2022 in the “Just Cause” action. It is noteworthy that the "Green Wave" has been fruitful, because the movement is united across countries and is not associated with specific political parties or organizations, contrasting with the situation observed in the United States.
As important as the practical legal measures achieved have been the efforts of the Green Wave movement directly with the population, in combating the stigma surrounding the performance of an abortion and in revisiting the reality faced by women and girls forced to carry to term an unwanted pregnancy. Analyzing an investigation of this reality carried out by the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch, Ximena Casas, specialist in litigation strategies for reproductive rights in Latin America, stated that “the criminalization of abortion does not eliminate it, but it leads people to resort to unsafe procedures that endanger their lives. It also worsens inequality and discrimination. Many, especially those living in poverty or in rural areas, resort to unsafe self-induced abortions or seek care from unqualified providers. The abortion rate is higher in countries that restrict access to abortion than in those that do not.”
The increase in awareness regarding women's reproductive rights, achieved through the Green Wave movement, made it possible for previously unthinkable measures to be discussed in the National Congress. In countries like Honduras, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic, the challenge still presents itself in a rigid way, but the fight continues. According to Ximena, “the Green Wave brotherhood is and will be the strength of the movement; she asserts that organization and collaboration are what fuel successful demands for women’s rights.”
Conclusion
The data indicated and broken down above reveal an alarming reality for women in the United States, especially Latinas, who are mainly affected by the difficulty in accessing safe abortions, and the United States Supreme Court's decision to annul the case “Roe v. Wade” further aggravated this situation by allowing states to impose severe restrictions on abortion, disproportionately affecting black and Latina women. These difficulties gain even more strength with socioeconomic barriers, discrimination, the lack of linguistic and cultural support in health services, and the lack of support for these women who find themselves in an unwanted pregnancy amid other painful routine challenges.
Fortunately, in contrast, the Green Wave movement in Latin America offers a perspective of solidarity and inspiration, based on achievements such as the decriminalization of abortion in Argentina, Mexico and Colombia, in addition to the gradual lifting of stigmas regarding reproductive rights.
Both Ximena Casas' speech and the demonstrations in favor of Green Wave exemplify the importance of solidarity and collective action in defending reproductive rights, offering a model of resistance and hope. International collaboration and fraternity are fundamental to advancing the promotion of reproductive justice. As concluded by Roberta Villalón (2010, p. 271), “the arduous lives of Latin American immigrants are a testimony to the need to continue the fight for equality and non-violence”.
