Viewing Options

• Liz Mineo, “Lesson from Latin America for U.S. abortion rights movement,” The Harvard Gazette (October 26, 2022).
• Asher J. Montgomery, “Mexican, Colombian Supreme Court Justices Discuss Path to Abortion Rights at Petrie-Flom Center Forum,” The Harvard Crimson (October 24, 2022). 

Event Description

As the U.S. Supreme Court reversed half a century of jurisprudence in Dobbs, rejecting a fundamental right to abortion, courts across Latin America have made progress in the opposite direction. A so-called “Green Wave” has swept across some of the most populous countries in a region that was formerly known for having the most restrictive abortion laws. In 2021, the Mexican Supreme Court ruled that complete criminalization of abortion was unconstitutional, triggering changes in state laws and regulation of abortion throughout much of the country. In 2022, the Constitutional Court of Colombia decriminalized abortion until 24 weeks of gestation, with further exceptions to criminalization thereafter.

This event will situate these landmark decisions in the historical trajectories of the respective Courts’ jurisprudence. The discussion will explore the role of differing constitutional frameworks and approaches to constitutional interpretation, as well as regional dynamics and the impacts of evolving understandings of abortion rights under international law.

Agenda

10:30-11am, Registration

11-11:15am, Welcome and Introductions

• I. Glenn Cohen, James A. Attwood and Leslie Williams Professor of Law and Deputy Dean, Harvard Law School, and Faculty Director, The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School 
• Alicia Ely Yamin, Lecturer on Law and Senior Fellow in Global Health and Rights, The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School and  Adjunct Senior Lecturer on Health Policy and Management at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health

11:15-11:35am, Remarks, Alfredo Gutierrez Ortiz Mena, Justice of the Supreme Court of Mexico

11:35-11:55am, Remarks, Natalia Ángel Cabo, Justice of the Constitutional Court of Colombia

11:55am-12:05pm, Respondent 

• Mary Ziegler, Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law

12:05-12:30pm, Moderated Q&A with Justices Ortiz Mena and Ángel Cabo

• Moderator: I. Glenn Cohen, James A. Attwood and Leslie Williams Professor of Law and Deputy Dean, Harvard Law School, and Faculty Director, The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School 

Sponsored by the Global Health and Rights Project (GHRP), a collaboration between the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School and the Global Health Education and Learning Incubator (GHELI), and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) at Harvard University.