Argentina legalizes abortion, a milestone for Latin America

Argentina became the largest country in Latin America to legalize elective abortion on Wednesday after an overnight vote. The measure passed the Senate 38-29 – just over two years after a bill to legalize abortion failed in House 38-31.

The decline in support for the role of religion in governance, as well as the growing power of activists for women’s rights, contributed to this change. And now women in Argentina who would have had abortions regardless of legality will no longer face unnecessary medical complications or fear of being sued.

This change could be the catalyst for neighboring countries like 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 occur annually in Argentina, a number that some activist groups believe is underestimating the real number. Illegal abortions can lead to health complications and even death for those who suffer them – the World Health Organization estimates that up to 13.2 percent of maternal deaths worldwide can be attributed to unsafe abortions.

Argentina has seen a decline in adherence to Catholicism in recent years, according to a study by the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET). The Buenos Aires Times reports that in 2019, 62.9% of the population identified as Catholic, a drop of 13.6 percentage points since 2008. Simultaneously, while evangelicals have gained new adherents, the share of people who identify themselves without religion has grown to the maximum, reaching almost 20% of the population.

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The survey also found a reduction in government support to finance and support religion: 46.2% agreed that religion should not be part of public school education, an increase of 19 percentage points since 2008.

Although Argentina is still a predominantly Catholic country, this decline could explain why Pope Francis’ comments against legalizing abortion have not had 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 “disposal culture” and rooted his opposition to medical procedure as being based on science, according to Crux, an online Catholic newspaper.

According to France 24, Catholics were not alone in opposing the measure; they joined forces with the country’s growing evangelical wing to mobilize against abortion. They are likely to struggle to overturn this measure, especially since this change exposes Argentina’s religious flaws.

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

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

In 2015, mobilizing against violence against women in response to widespread murder and rape, a feminist movement grew under the motto “Ni Una Menos” or “Not one less”. According to the Buenos Aires Times, “it is estimated that more than 300,000 attended” the first march.

The first big story that catalyzed the movement was that of a 14-year-old pregnant woman who was killed by her boyfriend – her mother said her boyfriend’s family was opposed to her having a child, according to the New York Times. The growing movement pointed to statistics that argue that, in addition to male violence against women, many women were dying due to unsafe procedures and lack of access to medical care.

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A Human Rights Watch report cites research that estimates that up to 522,000 abortions are performed each year in Argentina, although it is unclear how many of them are performed outside of the pre-existing legal exceptions for rape and the mother’s health. The AP reported that about 38,000 Argentine women are hospitalized annually for substandard procedures and that “several thousand women seeking abortion have died since 1983”.

Ni Una Menos gained momentum in 2018, when a bill to legalize abortion was defeated in the Senate after receiving approval from the Chamber of Deputies. As Emily Stewart of Vox wrote at the time, the “new wave of feminism spurred more women to talk about a variety of issues, including abortion. Activists see illegal abortion as another way to keep women oppressed ”.

Stewart also reported that “advocates of legalizing abortion plan to continue to gain momentum and take advantage of current media coverage.”

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