The international community has recognized that restrictive abortion legislation that results in unsafe abortion is a major threat to women's health and life in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is estimated that each year over four million women in the region receive clandestine abortions and as many as 800,000 require hospitalization for subsequent complications. Six thousand women die every year due to abortion-related complications in Latin America and the Caribbean. These stark figures demonstrate the urgent need for unification surrounding the issue of abortion and underscore the importance of support for national and regional women's groups as they rally around this momentous event. As the movement approaches its tenth anniversary, it is clear that despite a decade of intense advocacy efforts, very few advances have been made toward liberalization of abortion laws in the region.
Abortion remains illegal or severely restricted throughout most of Latin America and the Caribbean.
In fact, the overall trend in Latin America is toward restrictive abortion laws and in a few cases, the situation has worsened. For example, in 1998 El Salvador's Penal Code was changed to prohibit abortion without exception - not even to save the woman's life. In 1999, El Salvador's Constitution was amended, due in large part to the influence of the Catholic Church, to recognize life from the moment of conception. At that point, women's autonomy became subordinate to the life of the fetus. The struggle of women in El Salvador is an unfortunate example of the precarious state of women's reproductive rights throughout the region.