Reproductive Justice in LatinX Communities

Photographed by Anokha VenugopalClass of 2025 Undocumented Women’s Fund,

Women’s Strike NYC, DSA Latinas

Socialistas, Women Make Movies and 9M Translocal, collaborated to host the second edition of Picnic Abortero in Sheep Meadow, Central Park. Framed as a picnic to discuss reproductive justice and building ‘feminist community’ , the event served as a welcoming environment for those interested in taking action for reproductive rights locally, while building translocal bridges with sisters in struggle around the continent.

The special guest at this event was documentary filmmaker, Celina Escher. Escher recently released Fly So Far/Nuestra Libertad, a documentary about women of El Salvador that have been imprisoned on the basis of having obstetric emergencies. Under this category fall abortions as well as ,

THE miscarriages which are completely criminalized in the country under the 1998 abortion law, which bans abortion in all circumstances, even when the pregnancy poses a risk to a woman’s life or in cases of rape. The film follows Teodora Vasquez, who had a stillbirth in her ninth month of pregnancy and was charged to thirty years in prison for aggravated homicide. Released ten years into her sentence following an appeal, Vasquez now advocates for El Salvadorean women that have been placed in similar predicaments. However, right as Escher was preparing to fly to El Salvador for the commercial premiere of Fly So Far, Escher found out that plans to commercially release her film had been leaked to twelve Evangelical and pro-life groups after submitting the film to the 3

government for a procedural final rating. These groups are now threatening to sue Cinemark, the cinema company that was set to premiere Escher’s work, over the film. Escher was made to postpone the film release indefinitely, and her return to El Salvador has been delayed as she is forced to reconfigure her plans as well as the very real risks of showing such a controversial film.

Pictured in the yellow dress is organizer Ximena Bustamante, who works with the Undocumented Women's Fund, DSA Latinas Socialistas, and Womens Strike NYC.

Pictured with the braids is organizer Eileene Vicencio of the DSA Latinas Socialistas.