BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – The Senate of Argentina has passed a law legalizing abortion, a victory for the women’s movement that has been fighting for the right for decades.
Under the majority vote of Wednesday, abortion is legalized until the 14th week of pregnancy, and is also legal after the time in cases of rape or life-threatening.
The vote was accepted by 38 votes to 29, with one abstention, following a 12-hour marathon session that began late Tuesday.
It has already been approved by the Chamber of Deputies of Argentina and has the support of President Alberto Fernández, which means that the Senate’s vote is the last hurdle.
Argentine senators debate hour after hour over the legalization of abortions, which wrestled in the early hours of Wednesday morning with a vote that could be the culmination of a decades-long battle by women’s groups in Pope Francis ‘homeland and have consequences over’ a continent where the procedure is largely illegal.
The bill, which would legalize elective abortion during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, had already been approved by the Chamber of Deputies of Argentina and had the support of President Alberto Fernández, meaning the Senate vote would be the last hurdle .
If the measure were to succeed, Argentina would be the largest Latin American country to have legalized abortions, and the vote is being closely watched. With the exception of Uruguay, Cuba, Mexico City, the Oaxaca state in Mexico, the Antilles and French Guiana, abortion remains largely illegal throughout the region.
Argentina currently punishes women and those who help them abort. The only exceptions are cases where rape or a risk to the mother’s health is involved, and activists complain that these exceptions are not respected in some provinces.
Hours before the Senate session began Tuesday, the pope weighed in and tweeted, “The Son of God was born as an outcast to tell us that every outcast is a child of God. The world, weak and vulnerable , so that we can learn to accept our weaknesses with tender love. ”
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A previous abortion bill was passed by Argentine lawmakers in 2018, but this time it is backed by the center-left government. However, the outcome of the latest vote is still considered uncertain.
This was partly due to the fact that the political parties, including the ruling Peronist movement, gave their legislators freedom to vote as they pleased. Two of the 72 senators were absent, and 43 of the remaining 70 senators were men.
“The vote is equal,” Senator Nancy González, a supporter of the law, said before the debate. “It’s voting. We’re still working on resolutions.”
Outside the Senate, pro- and anti-abortion activists have gathered, with supporters of the bill wearing the color green representing their pro-abortion movement.
Argentina’s feminist movement has been demanding legal abortion for more than 30 years and activists believe the passage of the bill could be a watershed in Latin America, where the influence of the Roman Catholic Church has long dominated.
“Our country is a country with a lot of contradictions,” said Ester Albarello, a psychiatrist with a network of health workers who support the bill, who was among the protesters outside the congress building. ‘It is the only one in the world that has brought members of its genocide dictatorship to court with all the guarantees. But we still do not have legal abortions. Why? Because the church is with the state. ”
Also outside the legislature, a group calling its members ‘defenders of the two lives’ erected an altar with a crucifix under a blue tent. Dressed in a white smock and light blue face mask, teacher Adriana Broni said that even if the abortion law gives approval, ‘I will not learn that it is the right to kill a baby who has no voice. ‘
The legislative debate is led by Vice President Cristina Fernández, who was president in 2007-2015 and would only vote if there was a battle between the senators.
Supporters said the bill seeks to eradicate the clandestine abortions that have caused more than 3,000 deaths in the country since 1983, according to government figures.
In addition to allowing abortion within the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, the legislation would also stipulate that a pregnancy can be legally terminated even after that period if it is the result of rape or if the person’s life or integral health is endangered.
This will allow conscientious refusal to participate in an abortion for health workers and private medical institutions, against which all doctors are against the procedure. But they are expected to refer the woman to another medical center. Nor could conscientious objection be claimed if the life or health of a pregnant woman was endangered.