[ad_1]
And the ninth was forever. At 4:07 am on Wednesday, abortion was decriminalized until 14 weeks in Argentina. The so-called “green tide” born in 2018, when the Senate failed the eighth attempt to pass the legalization of abortion in Congress, finally took place. Argentina becomes the first large Latin American country to approve the voluntary termination of pregnancy, adding to the short list of small countries that included Cuba, Uruguay, Guyana and French Guiana, as well as Oaxaca and Mexico City.
“We did it, sisters. We made history. We did it together. There are no words for this moment, it crosses the body and the soul ”, wrote on Twitter Mónica Macha, deputy of the center-left coalition of the president, Alberto Fernández, who promoted the approved proposal.
The result turned out to be much less tight than expected, with 38 senators voting in favor, 29 against and one abstention. In the northern regions, which are more affected by the weight of the Catholic Church and evangelical groups, the majority opposed it. Among men, the majority voted against, among women, in favor, regardless of the parties.
“When I was born, women did not vote, we did not inherit and we could not go to university. When I was born, we were nothing, ”Senator Silvia Sapag said during the debate, when it was already clear that the law would pass. “I feel emotion for the struggle of all the women out there. For all of them, be it law ”.
99 years ago it was legal to abort in Argentina in case of rape or risk to the life of the mother. But even the law was not always enforced, with cases of raped women and girls who were refused by doctors to terminate the pregnancy, for example, nor was criminalization a deterrent: there are 270 to 530 thousand abortions and close to 40,000 annual hospitalizations for problems related to abortion. In 2018, 38 women died from complications related to unsafe abortions.
Mariela Belski, executive director of Amnesty International Argentina, celebrated, but is already preparing the rest of the fight. “Now perhaps the most complex will come. It will not take more than a week for a court order to consider this law unconstitutional. Many obstacles are missing, there will be regions where it will be very difficult to implement the law, ”he tells PÚBLICO.
The activist assures that the movement that promoted the change, “made up of an enormous diversity of groups”, is “fully aware” of future difficulties. “We don’t have all the same tools. Some will deal with the prosecution, others will work to train health professionals in their areas, some will be ready to return to the streets when necessary.
Remembering that the “green scarf” of the Argentines who defended the legalization of abortion has already become the symbol of all women in Latin America who fight for the same right, Belski believes that this vote will force the entry into the discussion even in countries where the issue is more sensitive. For now, he celebrates that “a year as complicated as 2020, in Argentina and the region, will end with this extension of rights.”
[ad_2]
