Abortion Law Reforms in Colombia and Nicaragua: Issue Networks and Opportunity Contexts

Abstract

This article analyses two instances of abortion law reform in Latin America. In 2006, after a decades-long impasse, the highly controversial issue of abortion came to dominate the political agenda when Colombia liberalized its abortion law and Nicaragua adopted a total ban on abortion. The article analyses the central actors in the reform processes, their strategies and the opportunity contexts. Drawing on Htun's (2003) framework, it examines why these processes concluded with opposing legislative outcomes. The authors argue for the need to understand the state as a non-unitary site of politics and policy, and for judicial processes to be seen as a key variable in facilitating gender policy reforms in Latin America. In addition, they argue that ‘windows of opportunity’ such as the timing of elections can be critically important in legislative change processes.

Analysing Failure, Understanding Success: A Research Strategy for Explaining Gender Equality Policy Adoption

“…Kampwirth 2008;Avdeyeva 2009;Engeli 2009;McBride et al 2010;Reuterswa¨ rd et al 2011). Rather, what we suggest is simply that the majority of research projects within the field are not designed with the specific purpose of accounting for the failure to adopt a specific gender equality policy.…”

Matrimonio igualitario, identidad de género y disputas por el derecho al aborto en Argentina. La política sexual durante el kirchnerismo (2003-2015)

“…Como nuestro objetivo es comparar procesos de reformas normativas, nuestro estudio se enfoca en los sectores y actores del activismo que tienen por objetivo articular demandas ante el Estado y el sistema político. 5 Para analizar los materiales empíricos, nos apoyamos en el marco analítico sugerido por Htun (2003) y Reuterswärd et al (2011) que brinda una visión desagregada de esta agenda de derechos y nos permiten iluminar tensiones y/o contradicciones en la regulación estatal del género y la sexualidad. Esta literatura combina, por un lado, visiones que enfatizan aspectos estructurales e institucionales (sus reglas formales e informales) que condicionan la acción colectiva, con aquellas que subrayan la trayectoria, recursos y marcos interpretativos de quienes impulsan las demandas.…”

“…Los resultados obtenidos en nuestra investigación agregan dos dimensiones del activismo, necesarias para poder llevar sus demandas a la política institucionalizada y transformar normativas sexo-genéricas: las experiencias de conformación de redes temáticas (issues networks) de activistas, profesionales y representantes estatales (Htun, 2003); y el papel del activismo judicial (Reuterswärd et al, 2011).…”

“…Otro punto que enfatizan los estudios comparativos en América Latina es el papel del activismo judicial en los avances legales, en particular, en países con una Corte Suprema independiente (Reuterswärd et al, 2011), como es el caso argentino en el período de nuestro análisis.…”

Movement and counter-movement: a history of abortion law reform and the backlash in Colombia 2006–2014

“…This action was promoted by the Rector of the Gran Colombia University, José Galat. 22 During the proceedings before the Constitutional Court, they submitted amicus curiae briefs, and when the Court issued Decision C-355, the Catholic Church opposed it through public declarations and excommunicated the Court's Justices as well as the plaintiffs. 23 Following the Decision, lay Catholic actors brought 40 lawsuits against it, 19 and conservative actors lobbied the Ministry of Health and other State institutions to try to deter the enactment of regulations for the implementation of the Decision.…”