Overview

Latin America has traditionally imposed the strictest limits on legal abortion in the democratic world, but over the last twenty years, constitutional courts across the region have issued important rulings on its regulation. In The Judicial Politics of Abortion in Latin America, Jordi Díez analyzes four landmark cases in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Mexico. Based on research in all four countries, including interviews with high court justices and law clerks, Díez argues that the decisions' variance is explained by two main factors: justices' and law clerks' ability to assemble legal majorities in favor of reducing abortion restrictions, and each country’s unique political landscape. As debates about a woman’s right to choose unfold around the world, Díez offers important and timely lessons from Latin America.

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9781469689746

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Reviews

""This pioneering study examines how four Latin American courts decided abortion cases once they reached the respective court dockets. Its wide-ranging, reader-friendly scholarship promotes understanding of the variance among such decisions and the different factors that judges consider before they pen their decisions or cast their votes."" --Rebecca Cook, Professor Emerita and Co-Director, Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto ""Jordi Díez opens the black box of judicial decision-making and abortion. Beautifully written and compellingly argued, this landmark book is required reading for anyone seeking to understand the role of courts and court personnel in contentious politics."" --Jocelyn Viterna, author of Women in War: The Micro-processes of Mobilization in El Salvador

""Jordi Díez opens the black box of judicial decision-making and abortion. Beautifully written and compellingly argued, this landmark book is required reading for anyone seeking to understand the role of courts and court personnel in contentious politics."" --Jocelyn Viterna, Harvard University ""This pioneering study examines how four Latin American courts decided abortion cases once they reached the respective court dockets. Its wide-ranging, reader-friendly scholarship promotes understanding of the variance among such decisions and the different factors that judges consider before they pen their decisions or cast their votes."" --Rebecca Cook, University of Toronto

Author Information

Jordi Díez is professor of political science at the University of Guelph.

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