Argentina moves closer to historic abortion legalization

A pro-abortion movement, symbolized by a green handkerchief, has swept through Latin America, where abortion is punishable by law

Uki Goñi
Wed 9 Dec 2020

Belén ended up in jail after suffering a spontaneous miscarriage. Unaware that she was pregnant, the 25-year-old went to seek medical care at a hospital in Argentina’s northern province of Tucumán when she suffered abdominal pain.

In accordance with Argentina’s stringent anti-abortion legislation, Belén (not her real name) was reported by the hospital to the authorities and sentenced to eight years in prison for homicide. She did not regain her freedom until almost three years later, in 2017, after a feminist lawyer who took up her case convinced the Tucumán supreme court to overturn her conviction.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/dec/09/argentina-legalize-abortion-bill-congress-vote

Fernández starts push to legalise abortion before end of year

President Alberto Fernández sends bill to Congress seeking to legalise abortion in first 14 weeks of pregnancy, firing the starting pistol on another epic legislative showdown.

Nov 21, 2020

Campaigners on both sides of the abortion debate stepped up their activism this week, with an epic legislative showdown over the procedure’s legalisation looming on the horizon.

To cheers from the pro-choice camp, President Alberto Fernández announced Tuesday that his government had sent a bill to legalise the procedure in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy to Congress. The initiative is expected to be dealt with in extraordinary sessions at the turn of next month, with a potential vote due before the end of the year.

Continued: https://batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/fernandez-starts-push-to-legalise-abortion-before-end-of-year.phtml

21.11.2020

Amnesty International Argentina

Mariela Belski

Mauricio Macri

Thousand Days Programme

High hopes for abortion rights to expand in Argentina

Anastasia Moloney, Thomson Reuters Foundation
Nov 18, 2020

BOGOTA, Nov 18 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – A fresh effort to make abortion legal in Argentina has a better chance of success than did previous failed efforts, supporters said on Wednesday, given political change and unprecedented backing by the president in the South American country.

Argentine center-left President Alberto Fernandez presented the bill to Congress this week to legalize abortion, saying reproductive rights are a public health issue.

Continued: https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/crime-pmn/high-hopes-for-abortion-rights-to-expand-in-argentina

Activists Keep Argentina’s Abortion Reform on the Agenda Despite Covid-19

The pandemic put anticipated legislative progress on Argentina’s abortion reform on hold, but activists are determined to keep up the momentum.

Cora Fernández Anderson
July 9, 2020

Early in 2020, it appeared that the legalization of abortion was, at last, imminent in Argentina. After a long struggle by activists, the elements of a strong movement, favorable public opinion, and sympathetic allies in power all aligned in favor of finally reforming the 1921 criminal code that allows a legal abortion only under the narrow circumstances of rape or a threat to a woman’s life and health. Following last year’s general elections, support permeated the halls of power: a multi-party coalition in Congress, the presidents of the Senate and lower house, the heads of the congressional commissions charged with discussing the bill, and even the president of the country all supported reform.

But then, in early March, Covid-19 reached Argentina. The government declared a lockdown, and everything stopped—including the prospects of abortion reform.

Continued: https://nacla.org/news/2020/07/08/argentina-abortion-reform-covid

09.07.2020

abortion law reform

Alberto Fernández

Campaign for Legal Safe and Free Abortion

conscientious objectors

Red de Profesionales de la Salud por el Derecho a Decidir

Socorristas En Red

The Coronavirus Outbreak Has Stalled Argentina’s Historic Effort To Legalize Abortion

The Coronavirus Outbreak Has Stalled Argentina’s Historic Effort To Legalize Abortion
President Alberto Fernández promised to make Argentina the largest Latin American country to decriminalize abortion. Then a pandemic

By Travis Waldron, HuffPost US
03/26/20

Three weeks ago, Argentina was on the brink of delivering a massive victory to women’s rights advocates there and across Latin America: New President Alberto Fernández, who won election last year, announced in early March that he planned to make legal abortion the first major priority of his presidency.

With strong majorities in Congress and increasing public support behind the effort, Argentina seemed primed to become just the fourth nation in Latin America to legalize abortion ― and the largest country in the region to enshrine the right into law.

Continued: https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/argentina-abortion-legalization-coronavirus_n_5e7cae9bc5b6cb08a928f364?ri18n=true

Will Argentina legalize abortion?

Will Argentina legalize abortion?

EDITOR: Ellen Nemitz, Curitiba
March 17th, 2020

Green and blue: Argentina is divided between the two colors representing “in favor” and “against" abortion, respectively. Alberto Fernandez, president of Argentina, can now be the support the “green scarf” movement needs. On March 1st, during the oficial opening of legislative activities for 2020, Fernandez affirmed he would write and send himself, within 10 days, a bill to Congress to legalize — and not just decriminalize — the pregnancy interruption in first steps.

Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, though, the legislative agenda is being rescheduled and the submission of the project was postponed, so details are still not known. Nonetheless, this will certainly not be the end of the new attempt to legalize abortion in Argentina — the last one was in 2018, but, although the Congress passed the bill, the Senate disapproved it under Mauricio Macri’s administration, who declared himself “in favor of life".

Continued: https://www.fairplanet.org/editors-pick/will-argentina-legalize-abortion/

17.03.2020

Argentina set to become first major Latin American country to legalise abortion

Argentina set to become first major Latin American country to legalise abortion
President Alberto Fernández says he intends to put a bill before congress in next 10 days

Uki Goñi in Buenos Aires
Sun 1 Mar 2020

Argentina is on track to become the first major Latin American country to legalise abortion. Its president, Alberto Fernández, said on Sunday that he intends to send a legal abortion bill to congress in the next 10 days.

“The state must protect its citizens in general and women in particular,” he said in his first annual address to congress. “Society in the 21st century needs to respect the individual choice of its members to freely decide about their bodies.”

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/01/argentina-set-to-become-first-major-latin-american-country-to-legalise-abortion

New Bid to Legalize Abortion in Argentina, With President’s Backing

New Bid to Legalize Abortion in Argentina, With President’s Backing
Activists came close in 2018. This year, President Alberto Fernández is on their side and is expected to present a legalization bill to Congress.

By Daniel Politi
Feb. 22, 2020

BUENOS AIRES — Abortion rights activists in Argentina have formally started the second round in their effort to advance reproductive rights in the land of Pope Francis, buoyed by the hope that the country’s transformed political landscape will put their goal within reach.

Two years ago, activists organized a powerful grass-roots movement that helped persuade the lower house of Congress to vote in favor of legalizing abortion, but the Senate narrowly voted down the bill.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/22/world/americas/abortion-argentina.html

Argentina – Activists: Macri’s revoking of abortion protocol is ‘arbitrary and shameful’

Activists: Macri’s revoking of abortion protocol is ‘arbitrary and shameful’
Frustration boils over on both sides of the aisle after president revokes health secretary’s new protocol for non-punishable abortions.

Carly Graf
Nov 23, 2019

Activists in favour of abortion reform slammed the Mauricio Macri administration on Friday, describing a move to revoke a new protocol offering guidelines for non-punishable procedures as “arbitrary, illegitimate and shameful.”

Another explosive development in the debate over the legality of abortion kicked off Wednesday, when Health Secretary Adolfo Rubinstein updated the protocol for non-punishable abortions, only to have the changes revoked and anulled by President Mauricio Macri just hours later.

Continued; https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/activists-macris-revoking-of-abortion-protocol-is-arbitrary-and-shameful.phtml

Argentina – Health secretary resigns after abortion protocol controversy

Health secretary resigns after abortion protocol controversy
President Macri slams Adolfo Rubinstein for ‘unilateral decision’ and immediately revokes update of guidelines for non-punishable abortions.

Nov 23, 2019

Health Secretary Adolfo Rubinstein presented his “indeclinable” resignation from the government yesterday, ending a week in which the debate over abortion in Argentina again seized national headlines.

Rubinstein’s position had looked untenable ever since it emerged Thursday that he had not sought permission from his superiors before issuing, a day earlier, a new protocol that updated the guidelines for non-punishable abortions in Argentina, a hot-topic issue that fiercely divdes the majority Catholic nation.

Continued: https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/health-secretary-resigns-after-abortion-protocol-controversy.phtml