Driven by Catholic groups and civil organizations linked to the far right, three women have been spreading misinformation about abortion, reproductive health, public policies, feminism and LGBTQI+ rights in Mexico since at least 2008. 

They are Amparo Medina, from Ecuador; Mayra Rodríguez, with dual Mexican-American nationality; and Sara Winter, also known as Sara Huff, from Brazil, who have offered and participated in 119 talks, workshops, conferences and discussions in 24 entities of the Republic.

According to experts consulted, this systematic misinformation hinders access to safe abortion services, criminalizes those who have abortions, and creates an environment conducive to discrimination against feminist and sexual diversity groups.

Examples of this include claims that there are no safe abortions, even though the World Health Organization (WHO) itself has reported that it is a common procedure and, when performed according to its guidelines, reduces maternal mortality . This is also true when their publications refer to "gender ideology," despite the fact that this is not a recognized concept in the social sciences.

International networks with right-wing “intellectuals”

Areli Veloz , an anthropologist and researcher at the Autonomous University of Baja California , who has studied conservative groups in Mexico, says that the events where what she calls "intellectuals of this new right" appear seek to increase their political popularity.

It's a coordinated strategy, the researcher explains, involving religious groups and conservative civil organizations whose narratives portray feminist and LGBTQ+ groups as enemies. The 119 events in which Medina, Rodríguez, and Winter participated were promoted by 74 different conservative and religious civil organizations , seven of which appear in the database compiled by journalist Kennia Velázquez for her investigation " Unholy Powers ," which exposes far-right alliances in Latin America.

Some of the organizations are: Think Tankers (14 events), Con Participación (ten), Poder Sonora (nine), Instituto Hispanoamericano de Investigación Social (six), Frente Nacional por la Familia (six), Amar cada latido (four), Prolife Army BCS (three) and Viva México (three), the latter directed by Eduardo Verástegui, an ultra-conservative actor and politician.

Areli Veloz explains that these are transnational networks that are structured from the local level. And that “at the same time they are linked to the church, but that church has other organizations and they move beyond the local level to connect with broader associations. This is the case in Mexico, where a very important association is the National Front for the Family.”

An example of the reach of these international networks is the participation of other far-right figures in the same events in which Medina, Rodríguez and Winter were present in Mexico.

Some of the most prominent are: Javier Milei, candidate for the presidency of Argentina; Agustín Laje, conservative intellectual from Argentina; Chinda Brandolino, anti-abortion doctor from Argentina; Miklos Lukacs, right-wing Peruvian writer; Samuel Ángel, from the Catholic Solidarity Movement of Colombia .

In addition to Abby Johnson, an anti-abortion activist from the United States; Víctor González, Vice President of the VOX party in Spain; Pablo Muñoz Iturrieta, an Argentine conservative philosopher; Jorge Scala, a pro-life lawyer from Argentina; and Lech Walesa, a Polish politician, former trade unionist, and pro-life activist.

Karla Amozurrutia, a specialist in Gender Studies and Feminism at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), agrees that these groups are not isolated, "but rather respond to organizations that are configured with organized, solid and heterogeneous strategies" by radical or conservative religious groups linked to politics.

In her article “ Culture for the New Right in Latin America and its Actions in Baja California, ” Areli Veloz points out that this right-wing articulation responds to changes in identity rights, specifically those related to sexuality, reproduction, and gender.

For example, the decriminalization of voluntary abortion up to 12 weeks of gestation in 12 states of the country, the recognition of same-sex marriage in all 32 federal entities, and the change of gender identity of trans people in the Civil Codes of 21 states.

Public resources at the service of conservative groups

Areli Veloz points out that this international strategy relies on very well-organized relationships and networks, "but obviously it has to do with budgets, that is, how they bring (the speakers who spread misinformation), with what money."

In this regard, Pascale Brennan, Advocacy Officer for the REDefine Mexico Program at the Simone de Beauvoir Leadership Institute, points out that “conservative groups are very organized, have many resources and armed political strategies.”

And while some of the events they participated in cost between 100 pesos and 120 dollars, about 2,000 pesos, others were organized with public resources or with the support of legislators and former legislators.

In December 2019, Sara Winter performed at the municipal auditorium in Guadalupe, Zacatecas, and the state government was one of the eight sponsors of the event, according to a report by the Zacatecas Online website .

Also, in October 2018, Winter gave a talk entitled "Feminism and abortion" at the University of Guanajuato, a public institution, which generated discontent among the university community and prompted calls to make the sponsorship public, as documented by the Zona Franca website .

Elsa Adané Méndez Álvarez, an independent deputy from Querétaro, organized at least five events; Juan Carlos Leal Segovia, a former local deputy from Nuevo León, organized two events; and Norma Edith Martínez Guzmán, a federal deputy from Jalisco, organized one of them.

UNAM researcher Karla Amozurrutia believes that these types of legislators, mostly from the National Action Party (PAN) and the Social Encounter Party (PES), who promote ultraconservative groups, "are violating the Constitution and what they promised and swore to uphold, which are the fundamental civil rights of all the people who make up their communities."

Systematic disinformation

For this investigation, 30 messages from the social networks of Medina, Rodríguez and Winter were verified , which together have 145,532 followers.

The result: false or out-of-context information, as well as myths that are debunked in the document " The evidence speaks for itself: Ten facts about abortion ", prepared in 2010 by IPAS, a non-profit organization that works to ensure that all women can choose about their reproduction.

They have also spread erroneous data regarding the size and characteristics of 12-week-old embryos, safe practices for terminating pregnancies, as well as messages where they lie about feminist and sexual diversity movements.

Often the publications were made at pivotal moments: when there were legislative discussions about the decriminalization of abortion, or even on commemorative dates, such as International Women's Day or LGBTI+ Pride Day.

In April 2021, during their participation in the Open Parliament on sexual rights, reproductive rights and legal abortion, convened by the Congress of Puebla, as part of the agreements with feminist collectives after the peaceful takeover of the legislative building, Medina, Winter and Rodríguez said that there are no safe abortions, due to alleged physical and mental consequences, that legal abortion is a business and that 12-week embryos are human beings with rights, claims refuted in the aforementioned IPAS document.

Furthermore, two of them have also lied about their backgrounds. Medina, who participated in 23 talks, conferences, meetings, or workshops from 2008 to 2022, often presents herself as a former UN advisor and guerrilla fighter, but the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) itself has refuted this claim twice, in April 2015 and June 2016, as revealed by the Ecuador Chequea .

Meanwhile, the Center for the Promotion and Defense of Sexual and Reproductive Rights (Promsex) of Peru exposed the inconsistencies regarding her alleged guerrilla militancy, because the dates and places of her testimony do not correspond with the historical events of the guerrilla movement in Ecuador.

For her part, the most popular of the three, the Brazilian Sara Winter or Sara Huff, who has participated in at least 54 events from 2018 to 2023, said during the Open Parliament that she is a former member of the feminist group Femen, known for protesting with explicit nudity, from which she decided to leave after having a painful abortion. 

In reality, Winter was expelled from Femen and arrested in 2020 for anti-democratic acts, after Brazilian Federal Supreme Court

Winter, whose real name is Sara Fernanda Giromini, was also accused of inciting violence against a 10-year-old girl who became pregnant after being repeatedly raped by a family member. According to the Argentine newspaper Página 12 , Winter allegedly published the minor's personal information and the hospital where she could access a legal abortion, endangering the girl's physical and mental safety.

The least active is Mexican-American Mayra Rodriguez, who has participated in 38 events in Mexico, from 2020 to 2023.

Disinformation criminalizes and promotes hate

Claudia Martínez, a gynecologist and consultant in sexual and reproductive health at IPAS Latin America and the Caribbean, says that misinformation about abortion prevents women and pregnant people from accessing their right to health.

“When we talk about myths, false beliefs, and the spread of misinformation, obviously that goes against what we all deserve: the right to health […], particularly in the case of abortion, it limits the ability to exercise your sexual and reproductive rights freely, in an informed and autonomous manner,” the specialist points out.

According to Pascale Brennan of REDefine Mexico, the myths and misinformation surrounding abortion also directly impact the economy of women and pregnant people, since instead of going to public clinics in states where it is already decriminalized, or acquiring misoprostol pills at an affordable price, they allocate a significant part of their resources to go to private clinics.

Meanwhile, Karla Amozurrutia, a researcher at UNAM, asserted that this misinformation contributes to criminalizing women and pregnant people who decide to terminate their pregnancies.

At the same time, it creates confusion regarding feminist social movements and sexual diversity, which could be considered hate speech.

Among the 30 messages analyzed, references were found to the term "gender ideology," a concept that, according to the National Institute of Women (Inmujeres), is used pejoratively "to cancel or dismiss the sexual and gender diversity to which societies, cultures and nations have been opening up."

Karla Amozurrutia, from UNAM, believes that the use of this term is a strategy by conservative groups to manipulate and "stop any proposal for emancipation or the promotion of rights."

She even believes that they approach abortion from a "purely biological perspective and with open hatred towards bodies, dissident identities, and pregnant bodies."

Onán Vásquez, from the organization No Dejarse es Incluirse (Not Giving Up is Including), a civil association that defends the rights of LGBTTTI+ populations in Puebla, mentioned that the discourse against sexual diversity generates a desensitization that normalizes and justifies violence and crimes against them. The report " Rights of LGBTTTI+ People in Public Policy ," prepared by the National Institute of Social Development (Indesol), reports that from January 2013 to December 2017 alone, at least 381 LGBT people were murdered in Mexico for reasons allegedly related to the victims' sexual orientation or perceived gender identity and expression.

It is up to the institutions to act.

The participation of Winter, Medina, and Rodríguez in activities that spread misinformation undermines sexual and reproductive rights and promotes discrimination against feminists and members of the LGBTQ+ community. This is progressing with impunity in Mexico, as experts have already stated. Given this situation, it is the State's responsibility to respond.

Pascale Brennan, from the Simone de Beauvoir Leadership Institute, said that to combat this misinformation, comprehensive sex education should be promoted, addressing topics related to consent, sexual diversity, knowledge of one's own body, pleasure, and, of course, abortion.

Brennan added that the Health sector should be responsible for promoting information campaigns similar to those done for other services, but related to abortion and the promotion of the Technical Guidelines for Safe Abortion Care .

For his part, Onán Vázquez, from Vida Plena , considered that it is the obligation of government agencies to combat this type of discourse through campaigns, and recalled that the UN established June 18 as the International Day to Counter Hate Speech .

“All institutions that ultimately provide services to the (LGBTQI+) community should have these kinds of open and respectful programs for all diversity […] to try to build a more sisterly and fraternal society, because I think that’s what we need, not these kinds of speeches,” Vázquez concluded.

*This content was produced with the support of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and the mentorship of Animal Político, within the framework of the Mexican Journalism Resiliency .