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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, heavily Roman Catholic region.
After a marathon 12-hour session, the country’s Senate passed the law 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 already 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, where dangerous clandestine procedures remain the norm a half century after a woman’s right to choose was guaranteed in the U.S.
In Mexico, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s party led a chorus of mostly leftist politicians across the region who celebrated the decision.
“We congratulate Argentina’s lawmakers for listening in an exemplary way to the clamor of the people and their attention to the popular will,” the executive committee of the National Regeneration Movement said in a statement on social media.”
Not all the reaction in the region was positive.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tweeted: “I deeply regret for the lives of Argentinian children, now subject to being ended in the bellies of their mothers with the State’s agreement. If it depends on me and my administration, abortion will never be approved on our soil.”
Outside Argentina’s Senate, pro- and anti-abortion rights activists gathered, with the bill’s mostly female supporters wearing the color green that has characterized their combative movement.
The crowd of a few thousand burst into raucous 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.
“I am the mother of a girl and I know that she will have more rights tomorrow and that keeps us moving forward,” said Renata Vismara, her voice hoarse after the celebratory street demonstration.
Added Valentine Luy Machado: “The power of seeing it come true after so many years ... it’s revolutionary.”