BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) – Argentina’s groundbreaking abortion law comes into force on Sunday under the watchful eyes of women’s groups and government officials, hoping to ensure its full implementation, despite opposition from some conservatives and church groups.
Argentina became the largest country in Latin America to legalize elective abortions after its Senate passed a law on December 30 that guarantees the procedure until the 14th week of pregnancy and thereafter in cases of rape or when a woman’s health is in danger.
The vote was praised as a triumph for the South American country’s feminist movement that could pave the way for similar actions in the socially conservative, strong Roman Catholic region.
But Pope Francis appealed at the last minute before the vote and church leaders criticized the decision. Proponents of the law say they expect lawsuits from anti-abortion groups in Argentina’s conservative provinces, and some private health clinics may refuse to perform the procedure.
“There is still a big task ahead of us,” said Argentina’s Minister for Women, Gender and Diversity Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta, who acknowledged that there would be obstacles to the full implementation of the law across the country.
Gómez Alcorta said a telephone line would be set up “for those who do not have access to abortion to communicate.”
The Argentine Catholic Church rejected the law and conservative doctors ‘and lawyers’ groups demanded resistance. Doctors and health professionals can claim conscientious objections to abortions, but cannot invoke the right if a pregnant woman’s life or health is in danger.
A statement signed by the Consortium of Catholic Doctors, the Catholic Lawyers Corporation and other groups called on doctors and lawyers to oppose the norm that legalizes the heinous crime of abortion with nobility, firmness and courage. stand.
The anti-abortion group Unidad Provida also urged doctors, nurses and technicians to fight for their ‘freedom of conscience’ and promised to ‘accompany them in all the necessary trials’.
According to the law, private health centers that do not have doctors who are willing to perform abortions must refer women seeking abortions to clinics. Any public official or health authority who unlawfully postpones an abortion is punishable by imprisonment from three months to one year.
The National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortion, an umbrella group for organizations that have fought for legal abortion for years, and often wore green scarves during protest rallies, has promised to ‘continue to uphold the law’ to monitor ‘.
“We rely on the feminist networks we have built over decades,” said Laura Salomé, one of the movement’s members.
An earlier bill on abortion was passed by Argentine lawmakers by a narrow margin in 2018. But in the December vote, it was backed by the center-left government, bolstered by the so-called ‘piba’ revolution, of the Argentine slang for ‘girls’, and opinion polls showing the opposition has softened.
Supporters of the law expect setbacks in Argentina’s conservative provinces. In the northern province of Salta, a federal judge this week rejected a measure by a former lawmaker and called for the law to be suspended because the legislature has exceeded its powers. Opponents of abortion cite international treaties signed by Argentina and promise to protect life from conception.
Gómez Alcorta said criminal charges against more than 1,500 women and doctors who performed abortions should be dropped. She said the number of women and doctors detained was “not that many”, but not a number.
“The Ministry of Women will carry out its leadership” to end these matters, she said.
Tamara Grinberg, 32, who underwent a clandestine abortion in 2012, celebrated that “a girl can go to a hospital from now on to say ‘I want an abortion’. ”
According to her, very few people helped her when she had an abortion. ‘Today there are many more support networks … and the decision is respected. When I did, no one respected my decision. ”
In some other parts of Latin America – such as in Uruguay, Cuba and Mexico City – abortion has already been allowed, but its legalization in Argentina is expected to resonate throughout the region, where dangerous clandestine procedures remain the norm for half a century. a woman’s right to vote is guaranteed in the US
___
AP journalists Víctor Caivano and Yésica Brumec contributed to this report.