Introduction

“There are moments in history when ordinary citizens come together and do extraordinary things,” says Catalina Martínez Coral. 

On February 21, 2022, in the street outside Colombia’s Constitutional Court, Catalina found herself in the middle of one of those moments. After 523 days, the Court had ruled on a lawsuit filed by Causa Justa—Just Cause—overturning the country’s longstanding abortion ban.  

“We had just achieved what had once seemed politically impossible,” she says: “the decriminalization of abortion up to 24 weeks in Colombia.”   

Catalina, the Center’s Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean, had been working towards this victory for years. A long-time feminist activist and human rights advocate, she grew up in Colombia—a country once home to some of the world’s most restrictive abortion laws.  

“We understood that criminalizing abortion while upholding principles of equality, health, and freedom of conscience created an impossible paradox that undermined the very foundation of justice,” says Catalina.  And so, Causa Justa was born.

Not just a legal victory

Not just a legal victory

“Causa Justa began as quiet conversations among dedicated advocates in 2017,” says Catalina. In those days no one could have predicted the impact it would have.  

By 2019, the Center and its partners were planning to challenge the ban before the Constitutional Court. At the same time, the team’s vision had grown bigger. “I found myself at the intersection of legal strategy and social movement building,” says Catalina. “Our constitutional challenge wasn’t merely a document filled with legal arguments—though it contained over 90 of them, rooted in international human rights [law]. It was a manifesto for a different kind of Colombia, one where women’s voices mattered as much as any other citizens.” 

The movement that emerged drew from all segments of society. “We brought together voices that had never spoken in unison before: human rights advocates alongside healthcare professionals, feminist scholars with faith leaders who understood that compassion, not judgment, should guide our response to women in crisis.” 

In 2020, Catalina and her team stood before the Constitutional Court and raised a giant green bandana, a symbol of Latin America’s pro-abortion movement. “That moment marked the public birth of Causa Justa,” she says.  

When the decision finally came, no one was expecting it. “At first, we couldn’t believe it. We cried, we hugged, we shouted. The atmosphere changed instantly. The street became a sea of joy, tears, and green bandanas waving in the air,” Catalina remembers. “That moment, surrounded by colleagues and strangers who had fought for years for this right, reminded me that this wasn’t just a legal win. It was a cultural and political shift, built by a feminist movement that had worked.”   

Be bold

Be bold

“Big legal and cultural changes don’t happen overnight, and they rarely happen alone,” says Catalina. “The most profound aspect of this work was witnessing how coalition-building can transcend traditional boundaries.” 

Progress, she emphasizes, comes from the ground up. It’s driven by collective action—by people coming together, despite their differences, in acknowledgement of what they share. “Change happens in courts, yes. But also in the streets, on social media, in classrooms, and around kitchen tables. That’s where culture shifts. That’s where hearts move.” 

“Find your people, build movements rooted in care, strategy, and shared purpose,” she advises. “Be bold with your demands, even if others say they’re not ‘strategic.’ What’s just is not always what’s easy.”