Argentine lawmakers present bill to legalize abortion

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Dozens of Argentine lawmakers of all political stripes presented a bill to legalize abortion on March 6, launching a debate that promised to divide a deeply Catholic nation.

Amid cheers from activists, around 70 members of the lower house of Congress unveiled a bill that would allow women in Argentina to interrupt pregnancy during the first 14 weeks, according to a copy of the proposal seen by Reuters.

"It will be a joy once this becomes law. Joy because in this presentation, there's the sense that we're going to take it up in the Lower Chamber and we're going to move it out of the Chamber this year, and we'll get preliminary approval for our law for voluntary interruption of pregnancy that is safe, free, and available in public hospitals," said Argentine legislator Victoria Donda.

Photo released by Telam of women demonstrating in favor of a law project which would allow abortion in front of the Congress building in Buenos Aires on Feb. 19, 2018. /VCG Photo

While Argentina's Congress has debated abortion before, the topic has garnered more attention since center-right President Mauricio Macri said he was in favor of debate and would encourage his allies in Congress to vote as they saw fit even though he was personally opposed.

Argentina, like most countries in Latin America, currently permits abortion in specific cases, including rape and risk to the mother's life. Rights groups have criticized a requirement for a judge's permission, which often results in lengthy delays or denial of the procedure.

"We denounce the cuts to the budget for the comprehensive sexual education law, the lack of training for teachers in service, and the interference of the Catholic Church, and of all the churches, in their disregard to what the law stipulates: secular and scientific. That's why, once again, we're demanding the separation of church and state," an Argentine abortion rights activist said.

An issue that has divided political parties, the abortion proposal could pass the lower house but will likely face resistance in the more conservative Senate.

The bill emphasizes the danger Argentine women face in seeking clandestine abortions, particularly poor women. About a third of maternal deaths in the country are related to such procedures, the bill says.

Argentina's neighbor Uruguay is an outlier in Latin America in permitting abortions. A Chilean court last year upheld a law legalizing abortion in certain cases. Chile had been one of only a handful of countries worldwide where the procedure was banned without exception.

Source(s): Reuters