“Our aim is to guarantee free and safe legal abortions to rape survivors”
Verónica Cruz Sánchez, is a long-time campaigner for abortion rights in Mexico, who helped ensure girls and women who have been raped could access safe abortions. Nowadays, Veronica is helping USA-based women access abortion pills in the wake of the Roe Vs Wade reversal.
Years ago in Guanajuato and throughout Mexico, abortion for survivors of rape wasn’t available. While it was technically legal, our government did not provide the services women and girls needed.
We created our feminist organization Las Libres (the Free Ones) in 2000 because we wanted to promote women’s rights and be there for those who had been raped. It seemed completely inhuman to think that these girls would have to bring these pregnancies to term. We wanted to make sure their rights were upheld, so we formed a network of gynaecologists, along with psychologists and lawyers to help guarantee the right to free and safe abortion. We also wanted to support girls and women who wanted to terminate unwanted pregnancies at home without medical supervision by accessing abortion pills for free.
In 2002, I met several young women who were imprisoned for having miscarriages, obstetric emergencies and abortions. They were young, had barely turned 18 and were already in prison. Some had been raped, the majority lived in poverty and were from marginalized rural areas. One of the girls I met was still pale from blood loss – she’d been sent to prison straight from hospital. I knew I wanted to help. She shouldn’t have been there.
After we met, she introduced me to other young women who had been subjected to the same prosecution. My team and I started running workshops in prison as we wanted to understand their situation and reconstruct what had happened. There was one woman who eventually led all the others to freedom. Unlike the rest she hadn’t been sentenced yet, so we started litigating her case and eventually she was released. This victory helped us to raise awareness about similar cases and created a massive social outrage. Soon afterwards all the other women were out of prison.
Since then we have made progress and the Mexican Supreme Court ruled that abortion should be decriminalised throughout the country. But many federal states continue to criminalise abortion in many cases and women are still learning about their rights, so it is my job to educate them.
While Mexico has taken steps forward, it is super crazy to witness what is happening in the USA. The USA used to be a reference for Mexico, with everyone wanting a ruling like Roe vs Wade.
After the constitutional right to abortion was overturned in the USA, one journalist gave me the idea to replicate our model and help women in Texas. Our aim was to pass on our experience, the model and resources such as abortion pills, which weren’t easily available there. When Americans read about our work in the USA media, their reaction was amazing. Donations started flowing in, even small 10 dollars donations. And we were able to buy one year’s worth of pills to send to the USA for free.
To date, we have supported more than 20,000 women directly in the United States and formed more than 200 support networks across the country. Our networks are anonymous, as these people are at great risk of criminalization. Where possible, if someone wants to go to a clinic, we try and connect them with someone in an out-of-state clinic.
Abortion is a right for which the entire society needs to take responsibility and should not be just on the shoulders of women, girls and all those who need or want an abortion. When the State does not respond, social organizations such as Las Libres must come forward and help to solve this problem.
“We’ve set up a free local abortion doula service for women to call us before, during or after an abortion”
Malta legalized abortion six months ago, but only in cases where a woman’s life is at risk – meaning three medical specialists need to agree on a decision and be present in the hospital. It’s a ruling that means the majority of women in Malta still can’t access abortions.
As the only openly pro-choice gynecologist in Malta, Isabel Stabile has been finding ways of supporting abortion rights for many years, despite the near total abortion ban…
Most young people in Malta are brought up Catholic. I am 66 and I did my gynecology training in the UK. Although I didn’t carry out an abortion, I was always pro-choice, and I looked after women before and after their procedures. When I moved back to Malta 20 years ago to start my practice again, I realized how difficult the situation was for women. It wasn’t right and I needed to do something.
Together with my colleagues, we set up a free local abortion doula service for women to call us before, during or after an abortion and ask for help – and it’s still running today. Medical abortion is a safe procedure and it can be done without medical supervision, provided you are reasonably close to hospital and have access to relevant information.
Where possible, we speak to patients ourselves, using appropriate language to let them know the procedure. We also make them aware of two things: Firstly, that they understand what I am telling them is illegal. If they are caught, they will go to jail for three years and we will go to jail for four years and lose our medical license. Secondly, they have to do it themselves, as lots of people want to catch us out meaning we’re at risk.
We try to minimize that risk as much as possible, by providing support during an abortion, and ensuring they know how much bleeding is normal and whether hospital is necessary.
For me, the current situation in Malta is terrible, having moved from a complete ban to – what feels like – an almost the worst situation. Approximately six months ago, a new law was passed which said abortion was only possible if your life was at grave imminent danger. It required three specialist doctors, present in the hospital, to agree. It is dangerous. Doctors are waiting until the very last minute and they’re not following medical protocols. In the past, it would have been possible for a doctor, gynecologist or obstetrician to decide whether a pregnancy would put the mother at risk and help end it privately, but not now.
The current situation in Malta is terrible, having moved from a complete ban to – what feels like – an almost the worst situation.
Isabel Stabile
I am in a difficult position – especially as women need help. For example, a 45-year-old woman, unable to speak English rang our doula line, saying she was pregnant. She had three children and wanted to end the pregnancy. I told her where to find the abortion pills and made sure she knew it was illegal. However, she didn’t know how to use the Internet.
It’s not always easy. When I started, I received a lot of hate mail, saying “I wish you were dead. We will kill you.” I reported them to police but they didn’t do anything. Thankfully, things are changing, especially among young people. We can now have open conversations about abortion, while a recent survey revealed that the majority of people under 30 are in favour of the decriminalization of abortion.
There are very few of us actively involved in my line of work. Yes, some people can be nasty, but fortunately there are some good people in the world and they’re the ones that help you get through problems. It can be hard when you don’t see immediate change, but we support each other as much as we can.
Veronica Cruz and Isabel Stabile both feature in season two of Amnesty International’s On The Side of Humanity podcast. It will be available to stream from 28 September 2024 on Spotify, Apple and Deezer.