Argentine women won a major victory on the evening of Wednesday, June the 13th. For 131 to 123 votes, the National Congress passed the Bill Project that guarantees women the possibility of interrupting a pregnancy until the 14th week.
By Romerito Pontes.
The debate began at 11 am and lasted overnight until a few hours ago – 10 am on Thursday. Now, the project will be discussed in the Senate before the final evaluation by the president Mauricio Macri.
However, Macri, that faces a strong decline in his government approval (58% to 35%) because of the austerity and tax adjustment measures implemented, already declared that he will not impose a veto to this project. In Latin America, only Uruguay and Cuba have laws that guarantee abortion right to women.
The tight result is a consequence of the strong polarization regarding this subject, and the broad campaign carried out by both sectors, in favor and against. However, the approval is, without a doubt, a victory from the streets. Over the last weeks, Argentine women took the streets in demonstrations with tens of thousands in favor of their right to decide. On Wednesday morning, at least 11 schools were occupied by students in favor of abortion.
Currently, in Argentina, you can only interrupt a pregnancy in case of rape, risk of the mother, or if the diagnose is death for the baby outside the uterus.
The project passed today guarantees the interruption of the pregnancy with no restriction and by exclusive choice of the mother until the 14th week. It also dictates that all hospitals must be qualified to carry this procedure, which should take place up to 5 days after requested.
The victory in Argentina took place a few weeks after Ireland passed an amendment in the Constitution to allow the right to abort. In the referendum, on May 25, 66.4% of the population voted in favor of the constitutional modification.
Congress passes right to abortion
Victory of Argentine Women