Women’s Health Under Siege in Latin America as Authoritarian Governments Roll Back Rights

A new analysis published by the British Medical Journal has highlighted alarming rollbacks in women’s health policies across Latin America, driven by authoritarian governments and organised anti-gender movements that weaponise rhetoric around traditional family values to justify sweeping restrictions on reproductive and sexual health services.

The research, conducted by academics at Brazilian and Brazilian universities, reveals a coordinated strategy employed by several Latin American administrations to dismantle women’s health programmes—not through outright legal repeal, but through administrative restructuring, budget cuts, censorship, and the transfer of health responsibilities to ideologically aligned organisations.

The most detailed example comes from Brazil during Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency from 2019 to 2023. His government systematically dismantled the Women’s Health Coordination Unit within the ministry of health—the section responsible for formulating, implementing, and monitoring women’s health policies. Rather than formally repealing constitutional protections for women’s rights, the administration imposed procedural barriers to legal abortion access, restricted campaigns and educational materials on sexual and reproductive health, and transferred responsibility for women’s health initiatives to conservative ministries. These actions created critical gaps in health programmes and deepened inequalities, particularly among poor women, Black women, and those living in remote areas.

Argentina provides an equally stark cautionary tale. The country achieved a historic milestone in 2020 when its legislature legalised abortion up to 14 weeks’ gestation—a significant democratic and public health achievement reached after decades of feminist activism. However, under the administration of President Javier Milei, these advances are being reversed through indirect mechanisms. Although women’s rights remain legally enshrined on paper, they are being weakened through restrictions on the supply of medicines, reduced numbers of trained professionals to provide services, and policies that effectively make legal abortion inaccessible for many women.

The research identifies a pattern across the region. Anti-gender movements use several interconnected tactics: they frame women’s rights and gender equality as threats to social order and the “traditional family”; they mobilise populist political campaigns that promise to restore a supposedly threatened moral order; and they coordinate narratives opposing the legalisation of abortion, comprehensive sexual education programmes, and the incorporation of gender perspectives into social policy.

This represents a significant departure from the progress Latin America had achieved. Over the past two decades, several countries had moved towards expanding reproductive rights. Mexico legalised abortion up to 12 weeks in Mexico City in 2007 and has continued gradual expansion. Uruguay legalised abortion up to 12 weeks in 2012. Colombia’s Supreme Court removed restrictions on abortion without limits up to 24 weeks in 2022. These victories were won through sustained feminist activism, with movements drawing on human rights-based arguments that positioned restrictions on abortion as a form of gender-based violence and a violation of bodily autonomy and human rights.

Yet these gains are now under threat. The broader political context matters considerably. Democratic backsliding across Latin America has coincided with the rise of conservative and authoritarian political forces. Research from the American University Washington College of Law notes that authoritarian regimes across different ideological spectrums—from right-wing leaders like Nayib Bukele in El Salvador to left-wing figures in Cuba and Venezuela—have deployed what academics call “moral and cultural ideology” that targets gender equality. They strategically reframe anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ policies as protective measures rather than restrictions, exploiting public concern about moral and social order.

The health consequences are substantial. Women, girls, and pregnant people who lack access to safe reproductive healthcare face higher risks of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Unsafe abortion remains a leading cause of maternal mortality in regions with restrictive laws. Sexual and reproductive health restrictions disproportionately affect disadvantaged communities who cannot afford to travel for services or access private healthcare, widening health inequalities.

Feminist movements across Latin America, particularly the transnational “Marea Verde” (Green Tide) movement, continue to resist these rollbacks. Women wearing green scarves have taken to streets by the millions since the mid-2010s to protest restrictive abortion laws, drawing on decades of human rights activism developed during periods of dictatorship and state repression.

The research emphasises that closer examination of these broader regional trends is needed to understand how changing political contexts affect women’s health policies and to identify effective strategies for protecting and advancing women’s rights.

Key Takeaways

• Authoritarian governments in Latin America are systematically dismantling women’s health programmes through administrative restructuring, budget cuts, and censorship rather than formal legal repeal.

• Anti-gender movements coordinate political campaigns framing women’s rights as threats to traditional family values, reversing decades of hard-won progress on reproductive rights and access to sexual health services.

• Restrictions on women’s healthcare disproportionately affect poor women, Black women, and women in remote areas, widening health inequalities across the region.

What This Means for Kent Residents

Whilst these developments are occurring thousands of miles away, they serve as a reminder of the importance of protecting reproductive rights and women’s health services in the UK. The NHS continues to provide comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services, including contraception, sexual health testing, and abortion care, as part of universal healthcare. Women in Kent can access these services through their local GP surgeries, integrated sexual health clinics, and NHS trusts. The rights and protections currently in place should not be taken for granted. For information about sexual and reproductive health services in your area, visit the NHS website or contact your local integrated sexual health service.