Pro-abortion leaders gathered at the Latin American Forum of Strategies for the Legalization of Abortion last week in Bogota, Colombia where they discussed their intention to take advantage of ambiguous international laws to pressure governments in the region to legalize the procedure.

Luisa Cabal, director of the International Legal Program for the Center for Reproductive Rights in New York, called on feminists and pro-abortion groups to pressure Latin American governments to continue debating legalized abortion.

The forum was organized by a Colombian pro-abortion organization and was attended by Cecilia Olea of the Flora Tristan Center in Peru; Lucy Garrido of Everyday Women in Uruguay; Paula Viana, executive secretary of the Conference for the Right to Legal and Safe Abortion in Brazil; Luisa Cabal, director of the International Legal Program at the Center for Reproductive Rights of New York; Maria Consuelo Mejia of the National Alliance for the Right to Choose; and Martha Maria Blandon, director of Planned Parenthood for Central America, who participated via video conference.