Hello, and welcome back to the Latin America Weekly newsletter! This week: pro-abortion sentiment is growing around the continent, Gabriel Boric faces internal conflict in Chile, and Peru is poised to pip Brazil to OECD membership.
Latin American public opinion is turning pro-choice
Abortion laws in Latin America have historically been among the world’s strictest. But a trend of liberalization seen across the region, from Mexico to Argentina, is beginning to change things. Per Ipsos, legislative shifts are in line with swings in public opinion, as support for legal abortions has grown steadily since measurements started in 2014, despite remaining stable overall across the globe.
Globally. Ipsos measures 27 countries across five continents and has found little change in global averages over the last seven years, with 71 percent of respondents backing the right to interrupt pregnancies in at least some cases today, compared to 72 percent in 2014.
- A more detailed breakdown shows that 46 percent of adults within the surveyed countries believe abortion should be permitted whenever a woman decides she wants one, while an additional 24 percent of respondents only support the procedure in certain circumstances, such as pregnancy from rape.
- Only one in six say...