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Argentina’s Senate voted Wednesday to legalize abortion, making it the first major South American country to do so, despite strong opposition from the Catholic Church, and sparking widespread celebrations in the streets of the capital, Buenos Aires.
The vote took place at 4 in the morning after 12 hours of debate and was approved by 38 votes to 29 and one abstention.
The bill, which was already approved by the lower house in early December, means that women in Argentina will now be able to abort up to 14 weeks of pregnancy. Until now, abortion was only allowed in case of rape or if the mother’s health was in danger.
“Safe, legal and free abortion is law … We are now a better society that is increasing women’s rights and safeguarding public health,” President Alberto Fernández, who sponsored the original bill, wrote on Twitter.
Hundreds of thousands of illegal pregnancy interruptions take place each year in Argentina and at least 3,000 women have died after clandestine abortions since the 1980s, Fernández said.
“This has been a struggle for many years, many women died. There will never again be a woman killed in a clandestine abortion,” said Vilma Ibarra, author of the law and legal and technical secretary of the presidency, who wept while crying. spoke to reporters after the vote.
When the result was read, cheers erupted in front of the Senate building in Buenos Aires, where thousands had gathered in support of the bill.
“After so many attempts and years of fighting that cost us blood and lives, today we finally made history,” said protester Sandra Lujan, a 41-year-old psychologist. “Today we leave a better place for our sons and daughters.”
Argentina now joins Uruguay, Cuba and Guyana as the only countries in South America that allow voluntary termination of pregnancy.
The continent has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world. In El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, abortion is totally prohibited and women can be sentenced to prison even for having had a spontaneous abortion.
Pro-abortion activists in Argentina have campaigned for years to change abortion laws dating back to 1921. Still, legalizing abortion in the majority-Catholic country, which has a population of 44 million, remains a controversial issue. : The Catholic Church maintains that abortion violates the right to life.
Pope Francis, who is Argentine, did not publicly condemn the bill, but many believed that his comments on Wednesday indirectly addressed the issue when he spoke of life as a gift, adding: “We are all born because someone wanted us to. we would. have life. “
After the vote passed, anti-abortion activists expressed their sadness.
The alliance of evangelical churches issued a statement calling it “a sad day.” “Today Argentina went back centuries in terms of civilization and respect for the supreme right to life,” said the alliance.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who heads the world’s largest Catholic country, also criticized neighboring Argentina’s decision. “I deeply regret the lives of Argentine children, now exposed to being torn from their mothers’ wombs with the consent of the State,” he tweeted.
(With contributions from Reuters, AFP)
