Fighting for abortion rights in the Americas: Civil disobedience and the vigilante state apparatus in comparative perspective 

Since the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, much attention has justifiably been paid to the plight of women’s reproductive health in the US. In the current climate, activists and advocates of abortion rights have become increasingly security conscious, favoring known networks, even in localities with permissive laws that indicate little risk of (direct) retribution from the state. Yet activists in Latin America have been fighting for decades against extremely restrictive abortion legislation, and have made significant progress in advancing reproductive rights. In a series of interviews with activists from the US, Argentina, and Mexico, we unpack some of the dynamics between and within organizations. We found activists based in Argentina and Mexico to be very willing to openly challenge legal restrictions and collaborate with sister organizations both within and external to their own borders, often citing a commitment to advancing women’s rights globally. However, we found US activists to be operating in a context of heightened caution, forced to take a reserved and closed-network approach. We examine how these factors hinder or promote the advancement of reproductive rights in each country, highlighting the role of the state, the political climate, and the sociocultural factors that influence these outcomes.