Argentine doctors protest legal abortion ahead of key vote

Argentine doctors protest legal abortion ahead of key vote

By almudena calatrava, associated press
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Aug 1, 2018

A campaign to expand legal abortions in the homeland of Pope Francis is bitterly dividing Argentines — and increasingly even the profession that would be asked to carry them out.

Hundreds of physicians have staged anti-abortion protests as an abortion rights bill moves toward a vote in the Senate next week. Some have demonstrated while carrying fetus-shaped dolls and waving signs saying: "I'm a doctor, not a murderer." At one recent protest, they laid white medical coats on the ground outside the presidential palace.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/argentine-doctors-protest-legal-abortion-ahead-key-vote-56955758


Argentinian Doctors Are Protesting Abortion Legalization & It Shows How Contentious The Issue Is

Argentinian Doctors Are Protesting Abortion Legalization & It Shows How Contentious The Issue Is

By Monica Busch
Aug 1, 2018

Although there has been considerable progress over the years, in most corners of the world, abortion remains a divisive, contentious topic. This remains the case in Argentina, where even some doctors are protesting legalizing abortion procedures. Like anywhere else where the topic is debated, Argentinian doctors against the procedure argue that they believe they would be complicit in ending a human life.

As of now, abortion is only legal in Argentina in circumstances of rape, or when there is a severe risk to a pregnant woman's health. The doctors demonstrating in Argentina this week are protesting a bill that would legalize abortions up to 14 weeks of gestation. That bill already passed in the government's lower house on June 14, albeit by a slim, four-vote majority. Even then, the successful vote only took place after 22 hours of debate, NPR reports.

Continued: https://www.bustle.com/p/argentinian-doctors-are-protesting-abortion-legalization-it-shows-how-contentious-the-issue-is-9969087