Argentina legalizes abortion, a milestone for Latin America

Argentina became the largest country in Latin America to legalize elective abortions on Wednesday after an overnight vote. The measure passed the Senate 38-29 – slightly more than two years after a bill to legalize abortion failed in the upper house 38-31.

Declining support for religion’s role in government, as well as the growing power of women’s rights activists, have contributed to this shift. And now women in Argentina who would have undergone abortions regardless of legality will no longer face unnecessary medical complications or fear of prosecution.

This change could be the catalyst for neighboring countries such as Colombia and Chile to reduce restrictions on the procedure, reports the Wall Street Journal.

According to the BBC, a minimum of 350,000 illegal abortions take place annually in Argentina, which according to some activist groups is the actual number. Illegal abortions can lead to health complications and even death for the people who experience them – the World Health Organization estimates that up to 13.2 percent of maternal deaths worldwide can be attributed to unsafe abortions.

According to the study by the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina has increased in recent years that Catholicism has declined. The Buenos Aires Times reports that 62.9 percent of the population was identified as Catholic in 2019, a decrease of 13.6 percentage points since 2008. At the same time, while evangelists gained new followers, and the proportion of people who identified with them without religion grew the most, reaching nearly 20 percent of the population.

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The survey also found that the government has less support for religious funding and support: 46.2 percent agree that religion should not be part of public schooling, an increase of 19 percentage points since 2008.

Although Argentina is still a largely Catholic country, this decline may explain why Pope Francis’ remarks against the legalization of abortion did not have an overwhelming effect on the outcome of this vote. Francis, who was born and worked in Argentina for much of his life, referred to abortion as part of a “throwaway culture” and based his opposition to the medical procedure as a science, according to Crux, a Catholic online newspaper .

According to France 24, the Catholics were not alone against it; they joined forces with the growing evangelical wing of the country to mobilize against abortion. They are likely to fight to overthrow this measure, especially since Argentina’s religious fault lines are exposed.

But the victorious activists are the feminists of abortion rights who have been fighting for the legalization of abortions for years.

The “Ni Una Menos” movement is a sign of increasing social liberalism in Argentina

In 2015, a feminist movement against violence against women grew in response to widespread murder and rape under the slogan ‘Ni Una Menos’ or ‘Not One Less’. According to the Buenos Aires Times, ‘an estimated 300,000 people attended the first march’.

The first major story that catalyzed the movement was one of a pregnant 14-year-old killed by her boyfriend. Her mother claimed the boyfriend’s family was opposed to it, according to the New York Times. The burgeoning movement pointed to statistics, arguing that, in addition to male violence against women, many women die due to unsafe procedures and lack of access to medical care.

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According to a report by Human Rights Watch, up to 522,000 abortions are performed annually in Argentina, although it is not clear how much of this is done outside the existing legal exceptions to rape and maternal health. The AP reports that approximately 38,000 Argentine women are admitted to hospital each year due to inadequate procedures and that a number of thousands of women seeking abortions have died since 1983. ‘

Ni Una Menos gained energy in 2018 when a bill to legalize abortion was defeated in the Senate after he got a nod in the lower chamber. As Emily Stewart of Vox wrote at the time, the ‘new wave of feminism’ has encouraged more women to talk about various issues, including abortion. Activists see illegal abortion as another way to keep women oppressed. ”

Stewart also reported that “supporters of abortion legalization intend to continue to build momentum and leverage current media coverage.”

Win or lose, a prominent member of the movement tweeted in 2018 that: “We won. Whatever the result. The green wave is unstoppable. We have opened consciences. And there is no turning back. ‘