The green scarf () is a symbol of the

abortion-rights movements Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as Pro-choice and pro-life, pro-choice movements, are Social movement, movements that advocate for Abortion law, legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to re ...

, created in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in 2003 and popularized since 2018 throughout

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

and then in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 2022. It is inspired by the white scarves worn by the

Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo () is an Argentina, Argentine human rights association formed in response to abuses by the National Reorganization Process, the military dictatorship by Jorge Rafael Videla. Initially the association worked to find ...

Origins

The green scarf, as a symbol, was born in 2003 during the XVIII National Meeting of Women in

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

, Argentina. For the first time, the right to abortion was one of the main demands and green scarves were used during the closing march. Two years later, in 2005, the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortion was born, and the green scarf was adopted to represent the movement. It was used for years by the activists who marched, in spite of the indifference of the population and the media. The green scarf is also a reference to the white scarves worn by the

. The color green was chosen because it represents hope and because it was not associated with any social or political movement in Argentina. According to one of the participants of the XVIII National Meeting of Women, there was also a pragmatic reason: they wanted to distribute scarves but they did not find enough purple fabric, the color of

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

, however there was enough green available. The green tone used is located between 347 C and 3415 C by

Pantone Pantone LLC (stylized as PANTONE) is an American limited liability company headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey, and best known for its Pantone Matching System (PMS), a proprietary color order system used in a variety of industries, notably gr ...

. Until 2018, in textile stores in Buenos Aires, it was known as "green Benetton". Then it changed to be known as "legal abortion green". The green scarf bears the legend "

Sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, safe sex, birth ...

to decide,

contraceptives Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

to avoid abortion, legal abortion to avoid death".

Popularization

The scarf gradually became more popular, being used in particular during the

Ni una menos Ni una menos (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Not one

oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

less") is a Latin American Fourth-wave feminism, fourth-wave grassroots feminist movement, which started in Argentina and has spread across several Latin American countries, that camp ...

marches and achieving notoriety in the public space since 2017, after the #MeToo movement, with the march "A global cry for legal abortion" that took place on 28 September of that year, having wide coverage by the media, who spoke of a "green tide". The green scarf is worn around the neck, on the wrist, or on backpacks and handbags. Celebrities wear it and recently the

have incorporated it and usually carry it during their weekly marches. Until 2018, the National Campaign for the Right to Legal Abortion distributed approximately 8,000 scarves per year, but in 2018 more than 200,000 were distributed. In reaction, the Argentine

anti-abortion movement Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in response to the leg ...

created a light blue scarf, "in favor of the two lives".

Internationalization

The symbol crossed borders in 2018 and was used in other

n countries that fought for the right to abortion. In

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, for example, the green scarf was used as of 2018, with the messages "Open-access to free and safe abortion" and "#NoBastan3Causales" ("three causes are not enough", referring to the fact that abortion in Chile is only legal in cases of life-threatening risk to the mother, non-viable

fetus A fetus or foetus (; : fetuses, foetuses, rarely feti or foeti) is the unborn offspring of a viviparous animal that develops from an embryo. Following the embryonic development, embryonic stage, the fetal stage of development takes place. Pren ...

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

). Since September 2020, the green scarf has also been the icon of the Causa Justa Movement in Colombia. This movement filed a lawsuit before the Constitutional Court of that country to eliminate abortion from the penal code. The lawsuit was decided in February 2022 and succeeded in eliminating the crime of abortion up to 24 weeks of gestation. In May 2022, the green scarf was also used in the United States during the marches in defense of the right to abortion, threatened by a possible overturn of the ''

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected the right to have an ...

'' decision. In June 2022, after the supreme court overturned ''Roe v. Wade'' with the ''

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization'', 597 U.S. 215 (2022), is a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court in which the court held ...

'' ruling, protests broke out in many cities in the United States, with some protestors using green scarves with the inscriptions "RiseUp4AbortionRights" and "Green4Abortion".

Prohibitions

Although there is no law that bans the use of the green scarf in Argentina, many private institutions (and even some state-run schools) have decided to ban its use and display. Human rights organizations have stood against these prohibitions, stating that they are unconstitutional and a violation of the right to self-expression.

References

{{Reflist Abortion-rights movement Political symbols