Click to expand Image People hold green handkerchiefs during a demonstration in support of safe and legal abortion access to mark International Safe Abortion Day, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 28, 2023. © 2023 Mariana Nedelcu/Reuters Since taking office in December 2023, Argentina’s President Javier Milei and his government have dismantled key sexual and reproductive health protections.A report published this week by the Center for State and Society Studies (CEDES) shows that harmful rhetoric from Milei on abortion creates “a climate of risk and uncertainty,” causing misinformation and confusion for pregnant people on whether they can access abortion services, disrupting care, and affecting health professionals’ safety.The administration also halted the national distribution of the drugs misoprostol and mifepristone, which are used for abortion care and for less invasive management of miscarriages, effectively restricting access to these essential services. It also cut distribution of contraceptive methods, including emergency contraception, and pregnancy tests, and cut the National Plan for the Prevention of Unintended Adolescent Pregnancy, which had helped reduce adolescent fertility rates in Argentina by nearly half between 2018 and 2021. This leaves many girls and adolescents with fewer options to prevent unintended pregnancies, effectively forcing some to carry pregnancies they did not choose and increasing risk of health harms.Argentina legalized abortion up to 14 weeks in December 2020 – a historic achievement won through decades of advocacy by the women’s rights movement, which sparked the Green Wave movement across Latin America. But because of the Milei administration’s cuts, the responsibility to guarantee access to legal abortion – including essential supplies – effectively rests solely with provincial governments and health teams.These rollbacks disproportionately affect women, girls, and pregnant people living in low-income or under-resourced provinces, where inequalities are more pronounced. Nearly half of respondents to a recent survey reported paying out-of-pocket costs, most commonly for ultrasounds, an economic burden that hits those already living in poverty hardest, despite the State’s duty to ensure free access to abortion services. In 2024, the national government did not purchase abortion medications, with the cost falling on provincial governments. CEDES highlights wide provincial disparities: in some provinces only 2% of public facilities provide abortion services, while in others 70–90% offer care. Women and girls in under-resourced provinces face far fewer options, showing the disproportionate impact of national rollbacks.The government’s undermining of abortion access may violate internationally protected rights of women and girls including to life, health, and privacy. The national government should urgently restore programs, ensure abortion, contraception and needed supplies are available nationwide, and guarantee that women, girls, and pregnant people can exercise their rights and make informed decisions about their bodies and futures.