‘This is not over’: Argentina’s Senate rejects bill to legalize abortion

'This is not over': Argentina's Senate rejects bill to legalize abortion
Uruguay and Cuba are only Latin American countries that have broadly legalized the procedure

Thomson Reuters
Posted: Aug 09, 2018

Argentine senators rejected a bill to legalize abortion after an impassioned debate ran into the early hours of Thursday, pushing back against a groundswell of support from a surging abortion rights movement.

The Senate voted 38-31 against the proposed measure, which would have legalized a woman's right to seek an abortion into the 14th week of pregnancy. The bill had narrowly passed in the lower house in July.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/argentina-rejects-abortion-senate-1.4778767

Argentina’s Senate rejects proposed bill to legalize abortion

Argentina's Senate rejects proposed bill to legalize abortion

By Eliza Mackintosh and Euan McKirdy, CNN
Thu August 9, 2018

(CNN)Argentina's Senate voted against legalizing elective abortion in the early hours of Thursday morning, dashing the hopes of abortion rights advocates in the predominantly Catholic country, homeland of Pope Francis.

The Senate rejected the proposed bill 38 to 31, with two abstentions and one absentee.

The bill, which fueled contentious debate, would have expanded abortion rights to allow women to end a pregnancy in the first 14 weeks. Current laws allow the procedure only in cases of rape or when the mother's health is at risk.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/09/americas/argentina-abortion-vote-intl/index.html

Argentina holds historic abortion vote as 1m women rally to demand change

Argentina holds historic abortion vote as 1m women rally to demand change
Senate votes on bill opposed by Catholic church and pope that would legalise abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy

Uki Goñi in Buenos Aires
Wed 8 Aug 2018

Ana María Acevedo was a 19-year-old housemaid and already the mother of three children when she was diagnosed with cancer of the jaw.

Her prognosis took a turn for the worse when doctors discovered she was two weeks pregnant, and cancelled her scheduled chemotherapy sessions.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/aug/07/argentina-abortion-vote-legalisation-senate-mass-rally

Argentine abortion bill loses momentum after senator pulls support

Argentine abortion bill loses momentum after senator pulls support

August 07 2018
Reuters/Buenos Aires

Prospects faded over the weekend for a bill that would legalise abortion in Argentina, when an opposition senator said she had changed her mind and would vote against the measure when it is brought to the floor on Wednesday. The proposal, which would expand abortion rights beyond current laws that allow the procedure only in cases of rape or when the mother’s health is at risk, passed the lower house last month by 129 votes to 125.

Since then religious activists, particularly in rural parts of the country, have pushed back against the measure, which is backed by feminists and rights groups galvanised in recent years by efforts to stop violence against women. The bill would make Argentina the third country in Latin American to broadly legalise abortion, after Uruguay and Cuba.

Continued: http://www.gulf-times.com/story/602034/Argentine-abortion-bill-loses-momentum-after-senator-pulls-support

No going back: The two sides in Argentina’s abortion debate

No going back: The two sides in Argentina's abortion debate

By Katy Watson, BBC South America correspondent, Buenos Aires
7 August 2018

It is the middle of winter in Buenos Aires, but a spring-like green has blossomed in the city in recent months.

Everywhere you go, you see women wearing emerald pañuelos (bandanas) around their necks, wrapped around their wrists, or tied to their bags.

The bandanas are the symbol of the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortion which started in 2005.

Continued: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-45096704

Argentina’s Abortion Vote Reveals the Catholic Church’s Deep Fear of Female Desire

Argentina's Abortion Vote Reveals the Catholic Church's Deep Fear of Female Desire

By Claudia Piñeiro
August 6, 2018

Piñeiro is an Argentine novelist, playwright and screenwriter, best known for her crime and mystery novels, most of which became bestsellers in Argentina.

Legal abortion or illicit abortion: this is what we’re discussing in Argentina these days. The country is one step away from approving a law that would cease to make abortion illicit and illegal. (The Senate votes on Wednesday.)

I have a hard time explaining it to friends and colleagues from other parts of the world. The image they have of Argentina does not match that of a country refusing to grant women this right. A pioneer in human rights, Argentina boasts one of the highest ranked universities in the world, has a thriving and diverse cultural life, and introduced same-sex marriage more than eight years ago. And my country brags a growing feminist movement, taking to the streets and making its voice heard loud and clear.

Continued: http://time.com/5357294/argentina-abortion-desire-vote/?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_todayworld

The Senate in Argentina must vote to decriminalize abortion

The Senate in Argentina must vote to decriminalize abortion

by Mariela Belski
August 6 2018

Mariela Belski is the executive director of Amnesty International Argentina.

Argentina is only days away from becoming a role model in Latin America and the world in the cause of advancing the human rights of women and girls. For that to happen, however, the country’s senators must vote Wednesday on a bill to decriminalize abortion.

On June 14, the Chamber of Deputies approved a bill that would allow women to terminate pregnancies during the first 14 weeks, in a historical vote that saw of the biggest street demonstrations of women claiming for their rights in the country’s history. The issue is certainly divisive, but there has been a healthy debate and President Mauricio Macri has said he will respect the results of the vote in Congress.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2018/08/06/the-senate-in-argentina-must-vote-to-decriminalize-abortion/

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

Why women in Argentina are speaking up about their abortions

Why women in Argentina are speaking up about their abortions
Regular protests addressing violence against women in Argentina have led to a national debate about women’s rights in the country—particularly abortion.

Jul 26, 2018
Author & Photographer: Bridget Gleeson

One morning in December 2008, Daniela Luna woke up in an unfamiliar hotel room in Miami. Naked and disoriented, she was surrounded on either side by men she hardly knew—men who, like her, worked in the art world.

“I couldn’t understand what happened to me. I felt like I’d been run over by a train,” said Luna, a curator and artist, now 40. In a phone interview from Miami, she recalled how she tried to get a morning-after pill the following day, but it was only available with a prescription. On Christmas Day, after she had returned to Buenos Aires, she found out she was pregnant.

Continued: http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2018/argentina-women-protests/

Chileans March En Masse To Expand Legal Abortion Rights

Chileans March En Masse To Expand Legal Abortion Rights

Published 25 July 2018

Thousands of Chileans are marching in Santiago demanding the right to safe, free and legal abortions, and carrying green bandanas the same as campaigners in Argentina.

Around 40,000 abortion rights activists are taking to the streets of Santiago and several other Chilean cities to demand free, safe and legal abortions.

Activists are out in support of the abortion bill introduced to Congress on Wednesday by legislature Guido Girardi, member of the opposition Party For Democracy. Girardi said as he presented the measure he wants "to open a debate in Chile, a conversation, a democratic process, a space for the vindication of rights and autonomy."

Continued: https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Chileans-March-En-Masse-To-Expand-Legal-Abortion-Rights-20180725-0031.html