Abortion is Healthcare
Lessons from Latin America & Ireland about reproductive justice
Happy Pride! 🏳️🌈
I’m off to Mexico City next week for the Mexican Foreign Ministry’s Feminist Foreign Policy convening. Let me know if you’ll be there, or in Mexico City in general. Since I’ll be on the road and because it’s the July 4 holiday in the US, there will be no regular newsletter next week. Not sure I’ll be able to do a readout of the French election this Sunday, so stay tuned. We’ll be back with a readout of the UK election after July 4.
Happy Independence Day!
And happy early birthday to my beautiful sister, Elif.
The Trump-Biden debate was disastrous. While he did get better in the second half, President Biden came across as a very old rambling man, with a bad Botox job that left him looking vacant. (People, Botox does not make you look better. It makes you look weird. Stop using it.)
It’s even worse to consider what that will mean for women if Biden loses in November. Jill Filipovic notes “(t)hat Biden bungled even his party’s strongest issue should be a moment of reckoning….” That strongest issue is abortion rights. And ladies, we have a problem.
Two years ago this week, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Decided in 1973, Roe had granted American women reproductive rights. Today, abortion is banned in 14 states and restricted in several others. That means women not only cannot get an abortion, but they cannot receive reproductive health care.
Earlier this week, the Biden camp aired an ad in which Biden attacks Trump for being responsible for overturning set precedent and warns that, as an extremist, Trump will come after IVF and birth control. Biden failed to drive home that point during the debate — and failed to underscore that women’s rights are not safe under Donald Trump. Because they’re not.
A new book that’s out, The Fall of Roe: The Rise of a New America takes a look at how we got to this moment. (I’m doing a giveaway below.) How we got here has everything to do with the methodical steps the GOP, particularly evangelical Christians, took and the things that the Democrats took for granted.
One of those things was that Roe was the “law” of the land. Except, it wasn’t law, it was only a Supreme Court decision — and accordingly to many, including a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg, not a very good one.
Ian Millhiser writes:
Roe, the landmark case that first established a constitutional right to abortion, rested on the idea that judges have a practically unlimited power to find rights within the Constitution that aren’t mentioned anywhere within it. The 1973 decision found the right to abortion within a broader “right of privacy,” which itself was found within “the 14th Amendment’s concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action.”
Abortion rights advocates in the US have long proclaimed privacy and the individual imperative for choice. It is a stark contrast to abortion rights advocates in heavily Catholic Latin America and Ireland, which have taken a different tact and succeeded in overturning abortion bans in a number of countries1: Chile (2017), Ireland (2018), Argentina (2020), Mexico (2021), and Colombia (2022). Abortion rights advocates in these countries have framed the issue as one having to do with human rights and equality.
Before I dive into the various movements, it’s important to note that in the countries that have overturned abortion, several have had female leaders. Michelle Bachelet was Chile’s president from 2014-2018. Argentina had both Eva Perón (aka Evita) and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner at the helm, at different times. Mary Robinson served as Ireland’s president from 1990-1997.
Representation matters.
Marea Verde - The Green Tide
American women have long proclaimed, “My Body, My Choice.” Argentine women, donning green scarves, pushed forward Ni Una Menos, Not One Woman Less. Ni Una Menos did not merely focus on abortion rights. It advocated for legislators to consider sexual harassment, violence against women, the gender pay gap, along with reproductive rights for women. Abortion was not a stand-alone issue, for the Marea Verde movement, the Green Tide, but part of a larger social justice cause that highlighted inequality and injustice.
My Bard colleague Omar Encarnación writes,
Latin American abortion activists have drawn attention to the socioeconomic consequences of criminalizing abortion by showing that prohibiting abortion creates a two-tier system granting wealthy women access to safe abortion through private doctors and forcing poor women to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term or go underground to seek an abortion and be subject to legal prosecution by public authorities.
Ireland
Similarly, abortion rights advocates in Ireland took a similar approach in 2018, when it pushed the country’s elected officials to hold a referendum to overturn or uphold the country’s 8th amendment, which bans abortions. Interestingly, it was a referendum in 1983 that made abortion in Ireland illegal.
The documentary, The 8th, details how women’s rights advocates campaigned on compassion and care, not rights. Their message, targeting the general public, was one that didn’t focus on abortion itself, but as Ailbhe Smyth, the co-chair of the Together for Yes campaign, noted, “were you going to stand in the way of a woman that needed one?” They targeted what they called the “middle ground voter,” someone ambivalent and undecided and argued that overturning the country’s abortion ban was a caring decision, so that women could have safe and immediate access to care.
Care does not factor into any GOP discussion about women and disappears as soon as a child is born. While obvious, it goes unstated. That silence is consequential. The Democratic post mortem from the debate will dwell on whether to keep Biden as the nominee, which is a moot point. It needs to dwell on what will happen to women if Trump wins in November. — Elmira
I’m opening up my column to others. Please pitch me your op-ed idea/perspective. Let’s get more female perspectives. Email me on endeavoringe@gmail.com or respond to this post.
Interrupt Your Bookshelf!
We’re excited to bring back the book giveaway! Elizabeth Dias and Lisa Lerer have written a comprehensive book about the Fall of Roe. I finished the audio version of the book and it provided me a comprehensive understanding of how the GOP methodically went about reversing reproductive rights for American women and how the Democrats just took things for granted. Enter the drawing to win a copy. Submissions close on Monday, July 1, 9:00am ET.
Thank you Elizabeth and Lisa for supporting Interruptrr.
Elsewhere in the World.....
On our radar...
Assange
Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, returned to Australia after pleading guilty in a US court to charges related to obtaining and sharing classified military documents, Kirsty Needham, Lewis Jackson, and Michael Holden on the quiet diplomacy that led to his release. (Reuters)
The US government has spent years chasing Julian Assange. Emma Shortis says that has been damaging to the US globally as well as with its alliance with Australia. And it’s not over yet. (The Conversation)
Editorial note: Julian Assange claims he is a journalist. Hence, why he published classified US government cables 14 years ago — a right, he claims, that should have been protected under the US Constitution’s First Amendment. Except, no actual journalist would have published those cables in its entirety, knowing that sources would be exposed and put at risk. This is what makes Assange’s actions reprehensible. Journalists must and should hold power to account. They should not, however, jeopardize the lives of those serving or working in the public interest. That is what Assange did and it is unforgivable. — Elmira
Coup in Bolivia
Last week, Bolivians took to the streets to protest rising prices and depleting foreign exchange reserves — and the government that is behind the economic paralysis. This AP piece from last week notes that Bolivia’s president, Luis Arce and the former president, Evo Morales are battling to lead the Movement for Socialism party for the 2025 elections.
Meanwhile, the head of the Bolivian armed forces said that Morales should not be allowed to run again and warned that the military would stop him. Arce fired him. Yesterday, the general and a few soldiers surrounded the presidential palace, in an attempt to oust Arce. Arce had the general detained. Paola Flores and Megan Jenetsky have the dramatic details and the bizarre claim the general is making that Arce put him up to the attempted coup. (AP)
US
Roe v. Wade granted Americans the right to have an abortion for 49 years. Two years ago the Supreme Court overturned it in its ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson. Nicole Narea shows us what two years without Roe looks like in the US through eight charts. (Vox)
Africa
Gen Z was having none of it. After Kenyan legislators proposed a tax hike that would have included enabling the government to have access to individual bank and mobile money accounts, they took to the streets in protest. Rasna Warah on how these protests were significant in three ways. Is this the TikTok revolution? (Africa is a Country)
Asia
The UN is hosting its third meeting of Special Envoys on Afghanistan this Sunday in Doha. Its goal is to normalize Afghanistan’s relations with the international community. Those were cut off in August 2021 when the Taliban took over the country. As they do, Annie Pforzheimer and Asila Wardak want the group to understand that security and human rights is not an “either/or.” Don’t let the Taliban push human rights off the agenda. (The Diplomat)
The Americas
In Haiti, after much delay, the UN mandated Kenyan police forces arrived in the country, to help restore order. What is their mandate? Daniela Mohor, Stanley Jerôme, and Nyaboga Kiage ask and answer ten questions about the mission. (The New Humanitarian)
Speaking of reproductive rights, Argentina’s President Javier Milei is doing everything he can to curtail women’s rights. To start, he has dissolved the Ministry of Women, Genders, and Diversity, relegating it to an undersecretariat. Cora Fernández Anderson outlines his other actions, including denying that there is gender inequality. 🙄(WPR)
Venezuela heads to the polls for presidential elections on July 28. Tamara Taraciuk Broner says while Venezuelans are eager to vote, there are endless obstacles in the way, including the right to vote. (Americas Quarterly)
Europe
France heads to the polls this Sunday to decide what party will head the nation’s parliament, the National Assembly. Polls show wide support for the far-right National Rally. Even if the National Rally performs well, it will not impact Emmanuel Macron. As president, his job is not up for grabs. But, he could end up with a parliamentary majority and prime minister from the opposing party, writes Sophia Khatsenkova. (Euronews)
Following France’s snap election, Rama Yade provides us with four scenarios on how the results will play out in the coming weeks. Yade, a former French minister and ambassador, says that in most scenarios, France will face an “unprecedented constitutional crisis” and will have to fight to preserve its influence in the EU and international stage. (Atlantic Council)
Should they stay or should they go? Ukraine’s internally displaced women are facing a dilemma of whether to stay and integrate in their host countries or return home to Ukraine. Marnie Howlett and Daryna Dvornichenko weigh in. (Carnegie Europe)
In next week’s UK general elections, what are the key issues shaping the vote? Edna Mohamed takes a look. (Al Jazeera)
Ukraine, along with Moldova, started talks on EU accession this week. But, first, the war in Ukraine must come to an end. Going into its third year, Ivana Nikolić Hughes and Peter Kuznick say that only makes a nuclear disaster more likely. (Responsible Statecraft)
Middle East
Following President Raisi’s death last month, Iran heads to the polls this weekend to elect a new leader. Azadeh Moaveni is on the ground in Tehran, with a first hand view of the candidates and the mood. (London Review of Books)
China is watching Iran’s election closely, Yun Sun says. China is particularly interested in whether the new president will uphold Iran's anti-Western position while deepening economic ties with Beijing, a key aspect of their strategic alignment with Russia. (Al-Monitor)
US intelligence reveals that a confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah is increasingly likely over the next few weeks. Neither wants war, says Lina Khatib, but both have been rewriting the rules of engagement, which makes it likely that someone will blink. (Chatham House)
Israel’s Supreme Court ruled this week that the ultra-Orthodox population must now serve in the military. Isabel Kershner weighs in on the implications of ending this decades-old exemption. (NYT)
Science & Climate Change
The Global South is on the front lines of climate change. Yet, combating it is costly. Debt-for-nature swaps, pioneered in 1987, have tried to make it easier. Interruptrr Fellow Elizabeth Losos, Alexander Pfaff, and Stuart Pimm argue that it’s time to reform debt-for-nature swaps to address climate change and spark economic growth. (Foreign Policy)
Technology
We’re all excited about AI and the technological transformation it will bring. We also need to be aware of the environmental impacts it brings. AI uses an astronomical quantity of energy and water to operate. Rebecca Hamilton thinks that, if we try, we could utilize a version of AI that isn’t nearly so harmful…and isn’t in the hands of exploitative tech companies. (Just Security)
Look at all the things you learn here. You’re welcome.
Under the Radar
How do Indian films show the realities of India’s housewives? Surbhi Gupta explains how Indian society disregards women’s aspirations and mental health, and men contribute little to domestic roles, through the lens of Bollywood films. (New Lines Magazine)
Listen: Will the US adopt a feminist foreign policy? Lyric Thompson talked to Laicie Heeley. (Things That Go Boom)
Opportunities
If climate change is your thing, Arc is seeking board members, or what it calls Non-Executive Director.
In many locations, Boston Consulting Group is hiring for a Insights Director, Center for Geopolitics.
In NYC, at NYU, the Center on International Cooperation has this really amazing job as a Program Director, Prevention, Peace building, and Protracted Crises.
The National Endowment for Democracy is taking applications for its Penn Kemble Forum Fellowship. It’s for DC residents only, who have been working in foreign policy, international affairs, or national security for the past 5-10 years. I wish I could apply to this.
Editorial Team
Elmira Bayrasli - Editor-in-Chief
Editors:
Pin-Shan Lai
Catherine Lovizio
Emily Smith
Cuba legalized abortion in 1965. Uruguay did so in 2012. Mexico City has allowed abortion since 2007. Mexico’s constitution allows states to set their own laws as long as they do not contravene the federal constitution.