Abstract
ABSTRACT During the recent abortion rights campaign in Argentina that culminated in the 2020 legalization of abortion on request, the names of Ana María Acevedo and Belén were widely chanted in protests, the media, and the National Congress. These young women’s stories, which became emblems of Argentine feminist movements, centered around the denial of legal abortions and the criminalization of obstetric events, especially those of poor women in the interior of the country. This article examines the role of two emblematic cases of strategic litigation that took place during the Argentine abortion rights campaign. While the literature increasingly warns about the counter-productive effects of “negative” abortion narratives and legalistic approaches to feminist emancipatory causes, I show that these emblematic cases contributed to fostering a federalized coalition that played a key role in the mobilizations for abortion rights. Based on an analysis of archives and interviews, I argue that even as feminist movements relied on dominant gender and class norms to advocate for the implementation of lawful abortions, emblematic case building empowered local feminist movements through individual and collective transformations and solidarities, broadening discursive spaces surrounding abortion in different areas of the country.
Published Version
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