When a controversial bill is passed through Parliament in England, the streets surrounding Westminster may suddenly turn red or blue, either in support or opposition. Sometimes the streets turn into a rainbow. Yet in Argentina, the streets near the Palace of the Argentine National Congress have turned green for over two decades.
But why the colour green? Since 2003, Argentinians have used the ‘pañuelo verde’, the green scarf, as a symbol of the abortion rights and reproductive autonomy movements. While a GCSE literature student may associate the colour green with recycling and nature, in Argentina it is used to symbolise hope: hope that women may own the rights to their bodies, hope that women can choose what they want to do, and hope that the women can access their “Right to Legal Safe, and Free Abortion”, as the campaign’s motto states.
For seventeen years, women wore the colour either as a scarf, a bandana or as a top; green banners were clutched by activists; women filled the air with green smoke from smoke canisters, and green pamphlets were given out to anyone who walked by. The colour’s use adapted to the times, with Argentinians wearing green face masks during the pandemic. In December 2020, the use of the colour green reached its climax, when the Argentine National Congress passed the bill to legalise abortion.
Although abortion was legalised in England in 1967, it took Argentina fifty-three years to follow in its footsteps, becoming the largest country in Latin America to do so in the process. Women could now legally access safe abortion from registered medical practitioners for free; they were now legally allowed to declare “my body, my choice”. While this is a monumental step for Argentinians and women alike, there is still more work to be done. The campaigners are now pushing for abortion to also be legalised after the first trimester of pregnancy, as women still must resort to unsafe and illegal methods if they wish to terminate their pregnancy after fourteen weeks have passed.
The colour green is particularly striking because the colour isn’t stereotypically gendered, thus encouraging men to join the fight, as abortion isn’t just a women’s rights issue, it’s a human rights issue too. It makes the battle for abortion rights and reproductive autonomy visible, in a country where women’s voices have often been suppressed and women’s rights have been ignored. Although 2020 was a monumental year for women’s rights in Argentina, the colour’s usage won’t fade, as Argentina still has a long way to go.