Argentina Is On Track To Legalize Abortion

ARGENTINA

Of Popes and Coat Hangers

Argentina is on track to become the largest Latin American country to legalize abortion.

That’s a notable shift.

In Latin America, only Cuba and Uruguay have legalized abortion nationwide. English-speaking Guyana and some parts of Mexico, including its capital city and the state of Oaxaca, have also done so.

But restrictions on the procedure are common throughout the predominantly Roman Catholic region. The Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua ban the procedure without exceptions, reported the Guardian.

In El Salvador, authorities have sentenced at least 14 women to prison for as long as 30 years for allegedly inducing an abortion, according to a Reuters story that cited a report by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Activists say what the convicted women suffered was more likely a miscarriage, still birth or other pregnancy complications.

Under Salvadoran law, doctors must report to the police if they suspect someone attempted to end a pregnancy. Accused women often face charges of aggravated homicide.

Opinions are changing, however. Argentine President Alberto Fernandez, who took office in December, promised to propose legislation early in his term to amend rules that limit abortion to cases of rape or when the mother’s life is threatened. A plan to send the bill to the National Congress in early March was delayed, however, as the government focused instead on responding to the novel coronavirus emergency.

“Abortion happens, it’s a fact,” Fernandez said in a recent address before lawmakers, according to the Independent. “A state should protect citizens in general and women in particular. And in the 21st century, every society needs to respect the individual choice of its members to decide freely about their bodies.”

Those comments stood in stark contrast to the Colombian Constitutional Court’s recent decision not to legalize abortion. A Colombian law professor had asked the court to institute a total ban on terminating pregnancies. The court could have used the opportunity to legalize abortion, the New York Times wrote, but instead let stand laws that restrict the practice.

Activists in Argentina were nonetheless heartened by the publicity the Colombian case generated.

As the BBC explained, a previous attempt to legalize abortion in Argentina narrowly failed in 2018. Now, however, the measure is expected to garner sufficient political support to become law. The shift demonstrated that abortion-rights activists can change public views despite strong and earnest opposition.

Amnesty International Argentina noted how activists put pressure on Fernandez to make a big announcement for their cause early in his term.

Women took to the streets after the 2018 legislation failed. Abortion-rights activists wore green and held placards showing coat hangers with the word “adios,” meaning “goodbye” to unsafe medical care, Al Jazeera reported. Anti-abortion advocates wore blue and sometimes carried the yellow-and-white flag of the Vatican, an allusion to Pope Francis, an Argentine.

Change happens – eventually.