After being narrowly passed in June by Argentine lawmakers, tension was at its height on Wednesday August 8 before the Senate’s review of the law ending the abortion ban. The senators put an end to the suspense on this subject which unleashes passions within Argentinian society. After more than 17 hours of parliamentary debate, the text was rejected by 38 votes against (and 31 for). Two senators abstained, according to official results.
The bill provided Voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion) during the first fourteen weeks of pregnancy.
The Senate’s refusal to decriminalize abortion was greeted ambivalent, reflecting the tension of public opinion: on the one hand with fervor and joy on the part of anti-abortion activists and on the other with tears and incomprehension. by supporters of legalization.
The measure, if it had been passed, could have inspired other Latin American countries while today only Uruguay, Cuba and Mexico City allow abortion.
Argentinian feminist organizations do not hide their disappointment in Argentina, a conservative country where Pope Francis is from. Some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) also regretted this decision. Amnesty International believes that the Argentine Senate “is wasting a historic opportunity for the fundamental rights of women, girls and other people likely to have a pregnancy “, estimates Amnesty International in a press release on August 9. “Argentine lawmakers have chosen to ignore the thousands of women and girls who fight for the respect of their sexual and reproductive rights,” added Mariela Belski, director of Amnesty International Argentina. rejection reflects acceptance of “a system that forces women, girls and others at risk of pregnancy to resort to clandestine and unsafe abortions.”
Clandestine abortion, a public health problem
This parliamentary rejection will not be enough to put an end to the debate around the legalization of abortionwhile 500,000 clandestine abortions are performed each year in the country, according to NGO estimates. According to observers of the situation in the country, the reality remains unchanged and the rejection of the text does not resolve what is now considered a public health problem: today Argentines who wish to have an abortion are forced to do it clandestinely under conditions precarious (clandestine clinic, taking medication, resorting to dangerous methods such as the introduction of knitting needles into the uterus …) and sometimes at the risk of their life. Each year, nearly 50,000 women must be hospitalized in Argentina for complications from clandestine abortion, remind him Spanish newspaper El Pais.
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