Argentina, Latin America’s largest nation, moved toward legalizing abortion.

Latin America nation to allow procedure despite pope’s plea

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina on Wednesday became the largest nation in Latin America to legalize elective abortion, a triumph for a feminist movement that overcame a last-minute appeal by Pope Francis to his compatriots and could pave the way for similar actions across the socially conservative, Roman Catholic region.

After a marathon 12-hour session, the country’s Senate passed the measure after midnight by a comfortable 38-29 margin just two years after a similar initiative fell short in a cliffhanger vote.

The legislation, which President Alberto Fernández has vowed to sign into law in the coming days, guarantees abortion up to the 14th week of pregnancy and beyond that in cases of rape or when a woman’s health is at risk.

“Safe, legal and free abortion is now the law,” Fernández tweeted after the vote, noting that it had been an election pledge.

“Today, we are a better society that expands women’s rights and guarantees public health,” he added.

While abortion is allowed in some other parts of Latin America — such as in Uruguay, Cuba and Mexico

City — its legalization in Argentina is expected to reverberate across the region.

Outside the Senate, pro- and anti-abortion rights activists gathered, with the bill’s mostly female supporters wearing the color green, which has characterized their combative movement.

The crowd of a few thousand burst into cheers and tear-filled hugs as Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who presided over the debate, announced the result, shouting “legal abortion in the hospital!” as the measure was passed.

Hours before the Senate session began Tuesday, the pope, who is revered throughout his homeland and has good relations with Fernández’s Peronist government, weighed in, tweeting: “The Son of God was born an outcast, in order to tell us that every outcast is a child of God. He came into the world as each child comes into the world, weak and vulnerable, so that we can learn to accept our weaknesses with tender love.”

After the vote, the local Roman Catholic bishop’s conference issued a statement saying the measure “will deepen even further the divisions in our country” and said it lamented that the country’s leadership was distant from the dominant pro-life sentiment across the nation.

The group Pro-life Unity said the date would be remembered “as one of the most macabre days in recent history.”