No Doctors Required: Lay Activist Expertise and Pharmaceutical Abortion in Argentina

Abstract

In Argentina, as in the rest of Latin America, abortion is illegal in most cases. But recently the advent of misoprostol, a pharmaceutical that can be used to induce abortion, has made safer abortion more accessible throughout the region. Local feminist activists are engaged in a direct-action campaign making information about misoprostol available to women who seek abortions. This activism builds on a long tradition of feminist organizing in the region, draws on transnational ties, and recalls other feminist direct-action campaigns related to women’s health. The activists involved are increasing access to safe abortion, especially for poor women, and radically reconfiguring the networks of expertise through which women access information about abortion.