BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – The Argentine Senate passed a law that legalizes abortion, a victory for the women’s movement that has been fighting for the right for decades.
According to most of Wednesday’s votes, abortion is legal until the 14th week of pregnancy and is also legal after that period in cases of rape or danger to the mother’s life.
The vote passed with 38 votes in favor, 29 against and one abstention after a 12-hour marathon that started on Tuesday.
It has already been approved by the Argentine Chamber of Deputies and has the support of President Alberto Fernández, which means that the Senate vote is its last obstacle.
Argentine senators debated hour after hour over the legalization of abortion, fighting until the early hours of Wednesday before a vote that could mark the culmination of a decades-long struggle for groups of women in Pope Francis’ homeland and have repercussions in a continent where the procedure is largely illegal.
The bill, which would legalize elective abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, has already been approved by the Argentine Chamber of Deputies and had the support of President Alberto Fernández, which means that the Senate vote would be his last obstacle.
If the measure were approved, Argentina would be the largest country in Latin America to legalize abortion and the vote was being closely watched. With the exception of Uruguay, Cuba, Mexico City, the Mexican state of Oaxaca, the West Indies and French Guiana, abortion remains largely illegal throughout the region.
Argentina currently penalizes women and those who help them have an abortion. The only exceptions are cases of rape or risk to the mother’s health, and activists complain that even these exceptions are not respected in some provinces.
A few hours before the Senate session began on Tuesday, the pope said, tweeting: “The Son of God was born an outcast, to tell us that every outcast is a child of God. He came into the world as soon as each child entered the world, weak and vulnerable, so that we can learn to accept our weaknesses with tender love. ”
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An earlier abortion bill was rejected by Argentine lawmakers in 2018, but this time it was being supported by the center-left government. The outcome of the last vote, however, was still considered uncertain.
This was partly due to the fact that political parties, including the governing Peronist movement, gave their legislators the freedom to vote as they wished. Two of the 72 senators were absent and 43 of the remaining 70 senators were men.
“The vote is balanced,” said Senator Nancy González, a defender of the legislation, before the debate. “This is a vote by vote. We are still working on the undecided ”.
Outside the Senate, pro and anti-abortion activists met, with supporters of the project wearing the green color that represents their pro-abortion movement.
The Argentine feminist movement has been demanding legal abortion for more than 30 years and activists say approval of the bill could mark a watershed in Latin America, where the influence of the Roman Catholic Church has long dominated.
“Our country is a country of many contradictions,” said Ester Albarello, a psychiatrist in a network of health professionals who support the bill, which was among the protesters outside the Congress building. “He is the only one in the world who has brought members of his genocidal military dictatorship to justice with all the guarantees. But we still don’t have a legal abortion. Because? Because the church is together with the state. “
Also outside the legislature, a group that calls its members “defenders of two lives” erected an altar with a crucifix under a blue tent. Dressed in a white coat and light blue mask, Professor Adriana Broni said that, even if the abortion law gains approval, “I will not teach that it is a right to kill, to kill, a baby that has no voice”.
The legislative debate was being chaired by Vice President Cristina Fernández, who was president in 2007-2015 and would only vote if there was a tie between senators.
Supporters said the project aims to eradicate clandestine abortions that have caused more than 3,000 deaths in the country since 1983, according to data from authorities.
In addition to allowing abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, legislation would also establish that, even after that period, pregnancy could be legally terminated if it was the result of rape or if the person’s life or health was in danger.
This would allow a conscientious refusal to participate in an abortion by health professionals and private medical institutions where all doctors are against the procedure. But they would be forced to refer the woman to another medical center. Nor could conscientious objection be claimed if the life or health of a pregnant woman was in danger.