On a day of solidarity and activism, Giselle Carino of Fòs Feminista marches alongside Mexican feminists demanding access to safe and affordable abortion care.
Mexico City, Mexico — Today marks International Safe Abortion Day, also known as “Día por la Despenalización y Legalización del Aborto” by feminists in Latin America and the Caribbean, who first commemorated the date in 1990. For more than three decades, feminists throughout the region—and eventually worldwide—have mobilized around this day to demand that governments decriminalize abortion, provide access to safe and affordable abortion care, and end the stigma around abortion.
Giselle Carino, Chief Executive Officer of Fòs Feminista, who is marching alongside feminists in the streets of Mexico City today for International Safe Abortion Day, issued the following statement:
“International Safe Abortion Day is a day to celebrate the several recent Global South victories won through feminist organizing, including with the contributions of our partners, such as the decriminalization of abortion in Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico, and the recent steps to dismantle colonial-era criminalization laws in Benin, Kenya, and Sierra Leone. We express our profound appreciation for the tireless generosity of feminists who share their experiences with others seeking to learn together from hard-earned successes and those who reach across borders to support others in their efforts.
“The United States’ decision to overturn Roe v. Wade after 50 years is a stark reminder that we must not take rights for granted. In denying women, girls, and gender-diverse people access to essential care, with a disproportionate impact on migrant, Black, Brown, and Indigenous women and other racialized groups, the United States aligned itself with a small handful of governments that have shamefully stripped abortion rights from people to whom they were once afforded, including El Salvador, Honduras, Iran, Nicaragua, and Poland.
“As we confront this moment, we rely on feminist solidarity and collaboration as the global movement continues to grow, crossing borders and strengthening connections throughout the world. As feminist activists, we are experts in expanding access to abortion under difficult circumstances and enhancing collaboration and joint action within the feminist movement — because we’ve done it time and time again. And we will continue to do so alongside feminist movements, organizations, leaders, and others across borders.”
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Fòs Feminista is an international feminist alliance centered around sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice for women, girls, and gender-diverse people. Together with more than 220 organizations across the globe, we engage in healthcare, education, and advocacy to advance our agenda. This includes providing sexual and reproductive health services and implementing community-based strategies that make sexual and reproductive healthcare more accessible to women, girls, and others at the margins. We also engage young people with comprehensive sexuality education and provide care to survivors of gender-based violence. We stand alongside our partners in the streets, in the courts, and in other advocacy spaces as an unapologetically feminist voice, resisting injustice and advocating for gender equality and reproductive rights locally and globally. Fòs Feminista is a non-partisan public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and does not endorse or oppose any candidates for elected public office.
Contact: mboldt@mrss.com
