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The Argentine Chamber of Deputies approved a bill to legalize the voluntary interruption of pregnancy, which at this time is only allowed in the country in case of rape or if the woman’s health is in danger. 131 deputies voted in favor, 117 against and 6 abstained: 129 votes were needed for approval. Now the law will go to the Senate where in 2018, in second reading, no. This time, also thanks to the introduction of some changes to the original text, the inclusion of conscientious objection (a point highly criticized by feminist movements) and the explicit support of the ruling party, the bill could be finally approved.
The half penalty throbbing … tomorrow is today. # AbortoLegal2020 pic.twitter.com/xOIaWBepgt
– Muriel Santa Ana (@murielsantaok) December 10, 2020
During the discussion in the room -which began at 11 on Thursday, December 10 and ended after 7:00 p.m.- Mónica Macha, president of the women’s committee, defined the session as “historical”: “There are two types of laws, which want to propose new practices and others that regulate existing practices. With the voluntary interruption of pregnancy we speak of the need for regulation for a millenary practice that is criminalized in a modern state. ”He then recalled that when a woman has made the decision to abort, it is certainly not prevented from having to do it clandestinely or illegally, as the data shows. It is estimated that more than 450,000 women have had abortions this year, especially those who can afford it, that each year in the country there are between 370 and 520,000 clandestine abortions, and about 50 deaths from clandestine abortions.
A deputy, in his speech, questioned the position of the Catholic Church on abortion and the active campaign that has been waging for years against this right: “What authority does the Church have to speak of two lives when it has blessed the appropriation and theft of children during the dictatorship? “(During the dictatorship of Colonel Videla, hundreds of children born in prison to disappeared girls were given up for adoption to families of the military or government officials and many of these adoptions went through the intervention of prelates and Catholic organizations).
The role of feminist movements that have been fighting for free, free and safe abortion since the 1980s was cited in many speeches. It was recalled that the law does not impose anything but gives freedom to choose, that if the law is approved the country “will have one less shame and one more freedom”, that “those who oppose the right to abortion do not defend life.” , defends clandestine abortion, “and that in any case” it is not a religious question but a political one. “Regarding the vote, each party, regardless of its support or opposition to the government, divided among themselves: deputies and deputies voted according to their convictions.
???? We are tide, joy and revolution for our rights. Inside the Congress the debate continues and outside, the party appears. It will be Law.# AbortoLegal2020 pic.twitter.com/y0KnEvMdbA
– # AbortoLegal2020 ???? (@CampAbortoLegal) December 10, 2020
Since Thursday afternoon, street demonstrations organized by Ni Una Menos and other feminist movements and groups have been underway in several cities in support of the approval of the law. In the streets of Buenos Aires there are thousands of people: “The joy is ours and the party is feminist”, “In this fight, we are all”, they shout. Giant screens were set up in the plaza in front of the Congress building to follow the live discussion and the plaza was divided with barriers to physically separate supporters of the law and pro-life supporters, who hold Argentine flags with a fetus instead of the sun, rosaries, crucified dolls and blue handkerchiefs.
The new bill on voluntary interruption of pregnancy (IVE) was presented in mid-November by the government of President Alberto Fernández and was accompanied by another for health care and for the care of women who choose to continue with the pregnancy. The “1000 Days Project”, as it was called, “strengthens the comprehensive care of women during pregnancy and of their children during the first years of life.”
The National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortion, a movement born 15 years ago to fight together with feminist groups for the decriminalization and legalization of abortion – and whose symbol is the green scarves – the bill judges it favorably as the result of decades of feminist struggles and mobilizations. Over the years, Campaña has presented eight bills to the Argentine Congress, all of which have been rejected: both its past initiatives and those of the government provide for the legalization, decriminalization and recognition of the right to legal, safe and free abortion until the 14 weeks of gestation. . It can exceed 14 weeks in case of rape, a risk to the life or health of the woman. Both proposals include abortion in the Compulsory Medical Program (PMO), so as a basic, essential and free medical service, they are aimed at those who hinder or deny access to abortion and also address sexual education.
What distinguishes the initiatives of the feminist movement from that of the government is the time that can pass from the request to access to the service: 5 days in the Campaign bill and 10 in the one now approved. The government proposal also provides for the penalization of women and those who perform an abortion beyond 14 weeks if they are not within the exemptions provided. But the substantial difference is the possibility of conscientious objection. The movements have clearly stated that the objection is “a door to non-compliance with the law and an obstacle to access, as is currently the case (…) in countries where abortion is permitted by law, generating delays, mistreatment, morbidity , maternal mortality and transfer of the workload to those who guarantee the right by working with conscience.
– Read also: Conscientious objection is not an objection
Conscientious objection was included in the text during the committee examination along with other changes to facilitate the approval of the bill, although with this downward commitment, in the Senate: the possibility of individual conscientious objection is foreseen, but in fact, it is also structural and this will allow private hospitals, often religious, to not respect the law. However, there will be an obligation to guarantee the service by transferring to an available public facility, assuming the procedures and costs associated with the transfer. The other change has to do with the accompaniment and protection of the privacy of girls and adolescents between 13 and 16 years old who, after a rape, want to have an abortion.
In recent weeks there have been several protests against the right to abortion that have had the support of the local Episcopal Conference, which explained that “for the first time, in Argentina and in democracy, a law could be approved that includes the death of one person to save another. ”At the end of November, the Pope also intervened directly on the subject with a letter thanking the“ women of the villages ”, a network of anti-abortion women. He encouraged them to“ continue ”by saying that “the country is proud to have such women,” and urged everyone to ask themselves two questions: “To solve a problem, is it right to eliminate a human life? And is it right to hire a murderer?”
In Argentina, a pregnancy can only be voluntarily terminated if it is due to rape or if it endangers the woman’s life. The ILE, Legal Interruption of Pregnancy, was introduced in 2015 and took up the guidelines established by a 2012 Supreme Court ruling on abortion for rape (ruling known as “FAL”): it stipulated that raped women could terminate a pregnancy without judicial authorization and without being processed. Despite this, in many regions of the country the law is not being applied or is being obstructed in every way. Women who resort to clandestine abortion, then, run the risk of being convicted and imprisoned (a report released in recent hours says that since 2019 at least 852 cases have been filed in court against women who abort).
Today we are fighting for him # AbortoLegal2020 But the fight started many years ago. I put my voice to tell that story in this video of @FundHuesped #It will beLey pic.twitter.com/fzTovJFtuw
– ???? ???????????????????????? ???????????????? ???? (@soyingridbeck) December 4, 2020
In 2016, a 27-year-old girl who had had a miscarriage was sentenced to eight years in prison for murder after hospital staff accused her of inducing it. Early last year, an 11-year-old girl, who became pregnant after being raped by her grandmother’s 65-year-old partner, underwent an emergency cesarean section after the abortion procedure requested by her and her mother. was delayed and had been injected with corticosteroids to grow the fetus. The girl had the right to terminate the pregnancy, but the law was not enforced. According to the latest available data, 2,293 boys were born to girls under 15 years of age in Argentina in 2017. In most cases, these are pregnancies caused by rape.
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