Argentina’s Abortion Bill Approved in Lower House
By: Andrew Veloz
Tags: Womens Health, Politics, Argentina, Abortion, Health

Pro-Choices Marchers in Argentina-Photo via Twitter

Early on Friday, Argentina passed an abortion bill through its lower house of legislation, the Chamber of Deputies(Cámara de Diputados). The bill was voted in favor with a vote count of 131–117, including 6 abstentions, and awaits to be furthered debated in the senate, where it will be determined if the bill becomes official law.

Current laws only allows abortion under circumstances of rape or if the mother’s life is at risk, but the proposed bill would allow them to be carried out until the 14th week of pregnancy.

Should the bill become law, Argentina would become the fifth country to legalize abortion in all of Latin America and the Caribbean alongside Uruguay, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guyana.

In back August of 2018, Argentina found itself an almost identical position. Under then president Mauricio Macri, abortion bill, with the same limit of 14 weeks, passed the chamber of deputies with a count of 129 to 124, including 1 abstention, before losing out to the senate 38 to 31. This occurred despite support public support. At the time, Amnesty international poll found that 60 percent of correspondents were in favor of legalizing abortion.

One of the biggest obstacles to legalizing abortion has the been the influence of the Church. As with most of Latin America, Argentina identifies with the Christian faiths. According to polls, 78.7 percent of the country is falls under a Christian domination with the majority being Catholic at 62.9 percent.

Pro-choice activists outside the Argentinian congress-Via NPR

There is optimism that this time the bill will gain approval from the senate with President Alberto Fernández showing support for its implementation. “A state should protect citizens in general and women in particular. And in the 21st Century, every society needs to respect the individual choice of its members to decide freely about their bodies.”

For many, the movement for its legalization is seen as a step forward for women’s rights. According to Women, Gender and Diversity minister Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta “This is a fundamental step and recognition of a long struggle that women’s movements have been carrying out in our country for years”.

Still, there is considerable push back from others who consider the bill’s debate coming at an inappropriate time for the country such as opposition legislator Graciela Camaño who remarks, “Instead of solving the causes — the lack of education, poverty, flaws — we are proposing for the solution to the problem to remain in the private sphere of women and, worse even, without any chance for men’s opinion”.

In addition, the Roman Catholic Church has directly repeated its opposition to abortion and asking for legislators for “a second of reflection on what respect for life means”.

As it stands, there are between 350,000 and 450,000 illegal abortions performed each in Argentina. Should the bill succeed in the Senate, it would alleviate the juristic and health concerns for the conduction of these abortions. Moreover, it could politically motive other Latin American countries to follow suit.