The Senate voted between 38 and 29 to give millions of women access to legal terminations under a new law backed by President Alberto Fernandez. The margin was expected to be much smaller.
A massive crowd of abortion rights activists and anti-abortion activists gathered in front of the Argentine National Congress Palace to await the results, which arrived in the early hours of the morning after an overnight debate. Supporters of the bill received the news with loud applause and, in some cases, tears of joy.
Gabriela Giacomelli, whose two sisters had illegal abortions, considered the scene “very emotional.”
“We’ve been fighting for years,” Giacomelli said. “Now I see young people, although I hope they never have to have an abortion, but if they do now they can do it for sure.”
Mariela Belski, executive director of Amnesty International Argentina and ambassador of the global women’s rights movement, She Decides, said: “Today, Argentina has taken an emblematic step forward in defending the rights of women, girls and women. people with reproductive capacity “.
The law will legalize abortion in all cases up to 14 weeks of pregnancy. Currently, abortion is only allowed in Argentina, the third most populous country in South America, when a pregnancy results in rape or endangers a woman’s life or health.
In all other circumstances, abortion is illegal and can be punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Proponents of abortion expect Argentina’s decision to spur similar moves in other Catholic-majority states in Latin America.
Belski said the measure sends “a strong message of hope to our entire continent: that we can change course against the criminalization of abortion and against clandestine abortions, which pose serious risks to the health and life of “approved today by the Argentine Congress and the enormous effort of the women’s movement to achieve this are an inspiration to the Americas and to the world.”
By contrast, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Suriname prohibit abortions in almost all circumstances. Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Panama only allow abortion if it is to preserve a woman’s health or help her save her life.
“Worrying numbers”
Abortion has long been a divisive issue in Argentina, and the vote energized activists on both sides of the debate.
Advocates for abortion rights he wore green handkerchiefs in a move that became known as the green wave. Anti-abortion activists dressed in blue: the color of the “save both lives” movement and that of the national flag.
Anti-abortion activist and student Agostina Lopez, 20, who protested the bill on Tuesday, told CNN ahead of the vote that it meant “a complete loss of values such as respect for life and women. “.
“Without the right to life, none of the other rights make sense,” Lopez said, adding that if the law were passed, a “false message would be given that the murder of innocent babies is no longer a serious matter “.
Brenda Austin, one of four congressmen who introduced the 2018 bill, said she received Wednesday’s news with “great excitement,” adding that the decision is a “historic debt our democracy has.” to women’s rights “.
In recent months, the abortion rights movement has received a major boost from the support of President Fernandez, who came to power last December.
In a speech recorded shortly before his investiture, Fernandez pledged to “end the criminalization of abortion.”
Wearing a green tie, a symbol of the abortion rights movement, Fernandez said criminalizing the procedure unfairly punishes “vulnerable and poor women,” adding that they were the “biggest victims” of the Argentine legal system.
“The criminalization of abortion has been to no avail,” he said, noting that “it has only allowed abortions to occur clandestinely in a worrying number.”
Fernandez said more than 3,000 people had died from illegal abortions since 1983. There are no official figures on how many illegal abortions occur in Argentina, but the National Ministry of Health estimates that they are performed annually between 371,965 and 522,000 proceedings.
Citing data from the Ministry of National Health, the HRW report found that 39,025 women and girls were admitted to public hospitals for health problems resulting from abortions or miscarriages and more than 6,000 were between 10 and 19 years old.
Experts say the new law will allow 13- to 16-year-olds with normal pregnancies to access abortion services without a guardian. Doctors will still have the option to “conscientiously oppose” abortion, even though the law states that they will have to look for another doctor to do so.
The bill also uses inclusive language that recognizes that not all people who become pregnant identify as women.
Camila Fernandez, an identifiable transgender woman who helped drive the language of the bill that says “people with the capacity to be pregnant,” told CNN that young people and the LGBTQ community were instrumental in challenging a “centrist power and patriarchal adult” this has perpetuated privileges and injustices. ”
“From the hand of trans men and non-binary people we have conquered the rights that are ours today and ours,” he said, adding that he believes the measure will pave the way for additional reforms for trans people who have historically marginalized state.
A divisive campaign
The debate over abortion has created tensions in a country with deep Catholic ties.
The Argentine constitution cements government support for the Catholic Church and recognizes Roman Catholicism as the official religion. However, a 1994 amendment removed the requirement that the president had to be Catholic.
In November, Francis intervened in the debate, encouraging the anti-abortion group Mujeres de las Villas to “move forward” with their work.
In a handwritten letter to the group’s congresswoman and intermediary, Victoria Morales Gorleri, Francis said that “the problem of abortion is not primarily a matter of religion, but of human ethics, especially of any religious denomination.” .
“Is it fair to eliminate a human life to solve a problem? Is it fair to hire a murdered man to solve a problem?” He wrote.
On Wednesday, the Senate also passed a supplementary bill that would strengthen the social and economic safety net of pregnant people who are struggling financially and who want to continue their pregnancies.
The “1,000-day plan” will strengthen services from pregnancy to the first 1,000 days of a child’s life.