The Center for Reproductive Rights organized a series of events in Los Angeles, California with partners in the Green Wave—the movement that advocates for expanded abortion access in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the United States, a bill to secure a nationwide right to abortion was introduced in U.S. Congress, and the Center proudly joined in celebrating Black Maternal Health Week.

Latin America and the Caribbean

The Latin American Green Wave Takes Los Angeles

The Center's Latin America and the Caribbean team and other members of the Latin American Green Wave movement led a series of events March 7–10 in Los Angeles, California. The events aimed to call on the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to protect women and girls' sexual and reproductive rights and raise public awareness of the fight to decriminalize abortion in Latin America. More than 13.5 million women of reproductive age live in Latin American countries where abortion is completely banned.

United States

Women's Health Protection Act Introduced in U.S. Congress

As abortion is banned and criminalized in many states across the U.S., members of the U.S. Congress reintroduced federal legislation to re-establish a nationwide right to abortion. If passed, the Women’s Health Protection Act would not only re-establish a nationwide right but would safeguard abortion access by protecting the right to travel for abortion care and create new protections for patients, providers, and those who assist people in exercising their right to abortion.

Black Maternal Health Week in the U.S.

Black Maternal Health Week ended last week, a national week of action that aims to raise awareness around racial inequities in maternal health outcomes in the United States. Founded by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, the week celebrates awareness, activism, and community building and focuses on evidence-based solutions such as Black midwifery and doula care. The U.S. continues to face a maternal health crisis, with rates of maternal deaths continuing to rise. The crisis disproportionately impacts Black women, who are nearly three times more likely to die than white women from pregnancy complications.

"The fight for our rights must be collective and without borders. We want to tell the world that reproductive rights are human rights and that our autonomy and freedom must be fully recognized."

—Catalina Martínez Coral, Senior Regional Director for Latin America and Caribbean for the Center for Reproductive Rights