A network of abortion-rights activists in Mexico is finding ways to offer assistance -- including shipments of abortion pills -- to women in the United States affected by recently imposed abortion bans in several states.
Members of the Marea Verde Chihuahua collective meet at their headquarters in Chihuahua, Mexico, Monday, March 13, 2023. The organization of volunteers has supported reproductive rights in northern Mexico since 2018, providing virtual guidance as well as shipments of abortion pills for women who want to terminate a pregnancy on their own, sparking requests from the U.S. after the Supreme Court eliminate the constitutional right to abortion in 2022.
To safely advise women on self-managed medical abortions, Castro and her colleagues were trained to become “acompañantes” -- capable of serving as a guide and partner, whether in person or from long distance. They have carefully studied national abortion guidelines and they know by heart some protocols established by the World Health Organization.
Chihuahua, where Castro lives, is ruled by a conservative governor and its penal code criminalizes most abortions. After an initial contact, members of the team check their availability and an “acompañante” is assigned to each case. Further communications usually proceed via WhatsApp. The work of the “acompañantes” troubles anti-abortion activists in Mexico. One of them, Jahel Torres of a national group called Pasos por la Vida, suggested there were health risks because abortion pills were being distributed by non-medical personnel.Castro and her colleagues usually send pills by mail and provide virtual follow-up until the abortion is completed. But depending on its personnel and resources, each Mexican abortion collective has its own logistics.
Dorado said Aborto Seguro Chihuahua mostly receives mifepristone pills from Las Libres, an organization founded 20 years ago in the conservative state of Guanajuato, in central Mexico, where abortion is still banned. “In one year we have created more than 20 networks. We are about 200 people helping only the United States,” Cruz said.
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