Historic abortion law on verge of passing
Argentina is poised to decriminalise abortion, potentially establishing some of the most liberal laws to terminate a pregnancy in Latin America.
On Wednesday senators will vote on a proposed bill that allows for terminations in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, expanding the present law which allows abortion only in cases of rape or when the mother’s life is at risk.
It is the ninth time that such a bill has been presented in the predominantly Roman Catholic country, where the issue remains divisive. The present law dates back to 1921. The proposed legislation was passed in the lower house this month by a margin of 131 to 117 votes after a debate that lasted more than 19 hours, and was greeted with celebration by women’s rights activists who had gathered outside parliament.
The senate is seen as more conservative than the nation’s congress, which means the vote is expected to be tighter – in 2018 a similar bill that would have legalised abortion was defeated in the senate. It had successfully passed the lower house.
Pro-abortion campaigners hope that with the leftist President Alberto Fernandez as an ally the bill can be pushed through. Fernandez, 61, took office in December last year and signalled his support for abortion rights in his speech at the opening of congress in March. He is the first leader of the country to do so openly.
His socialist Frente de Todos party could do with a political success story after a fraught year of strict lockdowns that have further crippled the country’s ailing economy. Polls suggest that more than two thirds of people in Argentina favour legalising abortion.
Ignacio Labaqui, a political analyst based in Buenos Aires, said that senators were leaning ‘‘ever so slightly’’ in favour and there was a better chance of the law being passed this week.
Despite opinion polls that showed strong support for decriminalisation two years ago in Argentina the church lobbied strongly against the legislation, and activists could not rely on the
president at the time, Mauricio Macri.
In Latin America abortion is legal in early pregnancy only in Cuba, Uruguay and Guyana. The procedure is banned altogether in El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, and women frequently face long jail terms.
A series of shocking recent cases may help to sway senators. Argentine doctors performed a caesarean section in February 2019 on an 11-year-old rape victim who had requested an abortion. Her procedure was repeatedly delayed as authorities attempted to identify her legal guardian. –