They Are Girls, Not Mothers: The Violence of Forcing Motherhood on Young Girls in Latin America.

Rape of girls under the age of 14 is common in Latin America, and forced pregnancy and motherhood among these girls is a major public health and human rights problem. Even though abortion in the case of rape is legal in a handful of the countries in the region, and is legal in most countries when the life or health of the pregnant woman is in danger, many girls under 14 are forced to continue pregnancies conceived due to rape and to become mothers long before they have the capacity to do so.1 The paper demonstrates how forced pregnancy and motherhood among girls aged 9-14 in the Latin America region who have been the victims of rape adversely affects all aspects of their health and lives, exacerbated by discrimination and the absence of legal abortion services. It then describes a multidimensional strategy, which includes legal, communications, and advocacy work developed by Planned Parenthood Global and partners in response to these realities. This unique strategy seeks to ensure that access to legal abortion is universally available and accessible to girls aged 9-14 on the grounds that continuing pregnancy poses a serious risk to their health and lives.

Preventing State Harassment of Abortion Providers: The Work of the Legal Support Network in Latin America and East Africa.

Access to safe abortion care is threatened, especially in legally restrictive settings, when providers are harassed or prosecuted on spurious charges. Legal networks have been working with safe abortion providers in Latin America since 2006, and in East Africa since 2010, to short-circuit this intimidation and protect access to quality information and abortion care. Planned Parenthood Global has nurtured these networks, now operating in nine countries. This paper describes this unique, prevention-focused legal strategy, with an eye toward analyzing its effectiveness, sharing the model and lessons learned with an interested audience, and encouraging replication. Prevention-focused legal networks for abortion providers have been effective in reducing police harassment, offering providers the information and skills they need to stand up to intimidation, and keeping safe abortion services available to those who need them. In the few cases of prosecution, providers have access to competent defense counsel through the networks. This model has also enabled better coordination between advocacy efforts on behalf of abortion rights, empowered health care providers, and increased access for women. Providers in other countries might explore whether and how creating local legal networks would offer similar protections.