'GET THE CHURCH OUT OF MY WOMB'
Argentina's lower house approves bill legalizing elective abortion
In a landmark move, Argentina's lower house has passed a law to legalize elective abortion. The bill still needs approval from the predominantly Catholic country's traditionally conservative Senate.
Hundreds of protestors, who had spent the night outside of the congress building in Buenos Aires, celebrated the landmark decision
Argentina's lower house of Congress on Friday approved a bill to legalize elective abortion to the 14th week of pregnancy, sending the proposal to the Senate, which rejected a similar bill two years ago.
The draft bill was passed with 131 votes in favor, 117 against and six abstentions. The bill still needs approval from the country's Senate in a debate expected before the end of 2020.
Argentine law currently only allows abortions when there is a serious risk to the health of the mother or in the event of rape. Women who have an abortion, as well as those who assist them, can face prosecution.
If passed, those below the age of 16 would also be allowed to exercise "their rights through their legal representatives" and seek "legal assistance" in cases of "conflict of interest."
Tight vote expected at Senate
Friday's approval follows more than a decade of campaigning by the National Campaign for the Right to Free and Safe Legal Abortion.
Hundreds of protesters had spent the night outside of the congress building in the capital, Buenos Aires, calling for the decriminalization of abortion.
Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta, the government's women, gender and diversity minister, called the lower house's approval a "fundamental step and recognition of a long struggle that women's movements have been carrying out in our country for years."
"We are going to continue working so that the voluntary termination of pregnancy becomes law," Alcorta said after the vote.
However, many women's rights activists are concerned that an even tighter vote can be expected at the Senate , a traditionally more conservative chamber.
Roman Catholic Church condemns decision
Ahead of the debate, which extended from Thursday into Friday morning, the Roman Catholic Church had urged legislators for "a second of reflection on what respect for life means."
Lawmakers from several parties have argued that abortions would be a violation of the American Convention on Human Rights, and that the right to life should be safeguarded by law, "in general, from the moment of conception."
Rights group Amnesty International, however, lauded the lower house vote and appealed to the Senate not to "turn its back" on women.
According to the government, several thousand women seeking abortions have died during clandestine abortion procedures in Argentina since 1983. Around 38,000 women are hospitalized every year in the South American country after undergoing unsafe abortion procedures.
'Moving forward'
Mexico City, Cuba and Uruguay are among the few places in Latin America where women can undergo abortions during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy regardless of the circumstances.
Before being elected a year ago, center-left President Alberto Fernandez had vowed to push for making abortion voluntary and cost-free as part of efforts to provide women with access to "comprehensive health."
Health Minister Gines Gonzalez Garcia said Friday's approval showed that Argentina was "moving forward."
"If this were a masculine problem it would have been resolved a long time ago," Garcia said.
Women celebrate in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Friday after the lower house of congress passed a bill legalizing abortion. The proposal faces a challenge in the senate, where a similar measure was defeat two years ago. Photo by Juan Ignacio Roncoroni/EPA-EFE
Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Lawmakers in Argentina's lower house of congress narrowly passed legislation Friday to legalize abortion, a key parliamentary step that followed nearly an entire day of contentious debate.
The Chamber of Deputies passed the bill by a vote of 131-117 after 20 hours of debate.
The bill, if it becomes law, would make it legal to end pregnancies up to 14 weeks -- and Argentina would be just the fourth Latin American country to legalize abortion.
The bill is part of President Alberto Fernandez's social agenda, which leans heavily toward reforms for women's rights.
While the bill faces uncertainty in the Argentine Senate, Fernandez's support lends the abortion-rights movement a voice it did not have under former center-right President Mauricio Macri.
A bill legalizing abortion was narrowly defeated two years ago in Argentina's Senate, which has long been opposed to abortion-rights legislation.
Another factor at play in the debate is that Pope Francis, an Argentina native, spoke out against the bill that failed in 2018.
The new version offers some changes from the old bill, including provisions to allow medical institutions to refer women to another clinic for an abortion. The updated bill also changes protocols in dealing with underage women with no parents.
Advocates hope the changes will be enough to get the bill passed in the Senate.
Argentina's lower house approves draft bill legalising abortion
Issued on: 11/12/2020 -
Aerial view of demonstrators displaying green headscarfs -symbol of pro-abortion activists - outside the Argentine Congress in Buenos Aires, on December 10, 2020
AFP - Emiliano Lasalvia
Lawmakers in Argentina’s lower house on Friday passed a bill that would legalise abortion in most cases, responding to long-sought demands from women's rights activists.
The bill, which needs approval from Argentina's Senate in a debate expected before the end of the year, allows for abortions to be carried out up to the 14th week of pregnancy.
Backed by President Alberto Fernández, the bill was approved in a 131-117 vote with six abstentions after a debate that extended from Thursday into the early hours of Friday morning.
The Roman Catholic Church in Argentina appealed to legislators before the vote for “a second of reflection on what respect for life means", echoing the position of Pope Francis, an Argentine, that abortion is part of today’s “throwaway culture” that doesn’t respect the dignity of the unborn, the weak or elderly.
Green and blue flags outside Congress
Protesters supporting the bill had gathered outside Congress wearing green scarves for an overnight vigil to await the news. A similar vote to legalise abortion was narrowly defeated in 2018.
Opposition groups, wearing light blue scarves, also took to the streets to demonstrate against the bill.
The initiative includes a parallel bill which will face a separate vote to assist women who want to continue with their pregnancy and face severe economic or social difficulties.
Argentine law currently only allows the voluntary interruption of pregnancy when there is a serious risk to the mother or in the event of rape, although activists say many women often do not receive adequate care.
The country has seen a gradual rise in agnosticism in recent years. While the current government is strongly behind the bill, that was not the case in 2018 during the conservative administration of Mauricio Macri.
Latin America has some of the world’s most restrictive abortion laws. Mexico City, along with Cuba and Uruguay, are among the few places in the region where women can undergo abortions during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy regardless of the circumstances.
On Thursday, dozens of members of a group called the National Campaign for the Right to Free and Safe Legal Abortion gathered near congress and followed the lawmakers’ debate on large video screens set up outside the building. They wore green, in contrast with anti-abortion activists who often wear blue.
Abortion rights and anti-abortion demonstrators gathered in separate, designated areas under tight security. They wore masks as part of efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19.
(FRANCE 24 with AP and REUTERS)
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