The Green Wave - Argentina's Journey to Legalize Abortion
On December 29th, 2020, the Argentinian Congress and Senate passed a law guaranteeing citizens the right to safe, free, and legal abortions (Gabriela Artazo, 2021). This came after a nearly 20-year journey of The Green Wave Movement (Samantha Schmidt, 2022). This movement revealed Latin America's internalized misogyny, the means they use to justify the misogyny, and the power young women hold in making the change they wish to see in the world. The Green Wave Movement in Argentina drew inspiration from the women's movements that preceded them, and would, later on, evolve into a huge movement spanning many countries in Latin America, eventually moving to the United States to aid in the pro-choice movements there (Schmidt, 2022). Today, abortion is decriminalized in 3 of the largest countries in Latin America, all of which are strongly Catholic. Unfortunately, it hasn’t all been progress for the Green Wave. Argentinian activists were stunned to see that the United States, Poland, and Nicaragua all tightened their abortion restrictions in 2021 shortly after their historical win (Schmidt, 2022). Despite the backslide in 3 countries, this is undeniably an incredibly powerful movement.
The Green Wave was largely inspired by the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo movement in the 70s. The Mothers would gather outside of the presidential palace in Buenos Aires to protest the disappearance of their children during Argentina's “Dirty War,” the symbol of this movement was white head scarfs made of cloth from children's diapers, worn by the mothers. Bandanas were chosen as a symbol for The Green Wave movement to pay homage to the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. The color green was chosen to represent nature, growth, and love. At the initiation of The Green Wave in Argentina, abortion was incredibly controversial among feminists due to the strong foundation of Catholic beliefs in Latin America. To make the movement palatable to all feminists, the focus of the movement was women's rights, more so than abortion specifically (Schmidt, 2022).
The green bandanas made their first appearance at a national women's gathering in 2003, in Rosario, Argentina. 3,000 green bandanas were prepared for this event, but 10,000 women showed up to demand the decriminalization of abortion, far exceeding the expectations of the event coordinators. These bandanas spread quickly across Argentina and evolved to being worn daily in subtle protest, they would even be worn to other protests within Argentina against femicide which was another important political issue at the time. During this time members of the anti-abortion or ‘pro-life’ movement began wearing blue bandanas to counter the work being done to decriminalize abortion. In 2018, the bill to legalize abortion was defeated despite the thousands of people gathering outside in protest. By 2020, when abortion was finally legalized in Argentina, The Green Wave had moved to Chile, Peru, and Columbia, with each country making the bandanas their own and wearing them proudly to their protests (Schmidt, 2022).
Rights to abortion became a popular issue with feminist movements as early as the 1980s. Argemtinian women realized not having access to abortion was not only a women's rights issue but a human rights issue. The protests focused on abortion being a human right and something to improve women's health and safety in Argentina (Artazo, 2021).
This movement, like any other, was not without struggles. This movement started in 2003, yet it was working on the foundation laid by The Commission for the Right to Abortion, created in 1987. This was 33 years of work and 17 years of protest with The Green Wave to eventually legalize abortion in Argentina (Artazo, 2021). In 2018, a bill legalizing abortion was shot down in the Argentinian senate, this was disheartening to the thousands of women who had gathered outside that day (Schmidt, 2022). The ‘pro-life’ movements were in constant opposition to The Green Wave, protesting by wearing blue bandanas, and even using messaging such as “don't mess with my children” and “let's save both lives” (Artazo, 2021). Finally, and most importantly, the movement had to work constantly against the incredibly conservative government and catholic roots in Argentina. Gabriela Artazo states in her article on the Green Wave, “Their demands were directed towards the same power structures that oppose discussion on sexuality within educational environments, who are under pressure from Catholic and Evangelical church congregations” (Artazo, 2021).
Despite the vast challenges, the movement was still a success. This movement connected thousands of women internationally and sparked a movement to sweep nations. The movement spread not only within Latin America but also to the US where the movement has become increasingly relevant after the overturn of Roe v Wade. Most importantly, the movement succeeded in its goal, and abortion was decriminalized and legalized in Argentina, this was a historical win. After this, Mexico and Columbia followed suit. With these three officially legalizing abortion, three of the four largest Latin American countries had officially legalized abortion (Schmidt, 2022). This is a drastic win for women's health, safety, and rights throughout Latin America.
This is all very telling of Latin American society and reveals the misogyny which is deeply rooted in the country's Catholic heritage. In Argentina, a woman's body is often thought of as “a body for others” especially for men and children (Sutton, 2022, p. 135). The catholic church as well as the government and education systems, actively glorify self-giving aspects of femininity and maternal embodiment (Sutton, 2022, p. 135). Beyond the strong ties to the identity of motherhood, women are expected to be incredibly feminine and heterosexual presenting. Of course, all of this is an issue with greater Latin America rather than Argentina specifically. In fact, in Argentina, “activist groups such as the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo drew on the image of motherhood to lend legitimacy to their struggle” (Sutton, 2022, p. 136). This moment brought to light a lot of the misogyny and oppression that has always been present in catholic patriarchal societies. However, it also proved that women hold power, despite living in a society that constantly tells them otherwise.
Argentina set an example for the rest of the world with The Green Wave movement. The movement spread internationally and influenced many countries in their activism for women's rights. Despite the historic win and the international influence of The Green Wave, multiple countries have regressed in their abortion and women's rights. Yet, The Green Wave was strong enough to advocate for countries like the US when Roe v Wade was overturned. The movement also revealed the incredibly prevalent misogyny in Latin America and the issues with gender roles and heteronormative ideals that still need to be addressed. Most importantly, the movement created a global network of women, prepared to advocate for themselves and uplift each other for equality.
References
Artazo, G. (2021). A new feminist ethic that unites and mobilizes people: the participation of young people in Argentina’s Green Wave. Gender and Development, 29(2-3). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13552074.2021.2005924?needAccess=tru
Schmidt, S. (2022). How green became the color of abortion rights. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2022/abortion-green-roe-wade-argentina/
Sutton, B. (2007). Poner el Cuerpo: Women's Embodiment and Political Resistance in Argentina. Cambridge University Press, 49(3), 135-136. https://www.jstor.org/stable/30130813?read-now=1&seq=15#page_scan_tab_contents
