With Milei leading Argentina’s presidential race, abortion is on the line

Libertarian candidate and frontrunner Javier Milei has pledged to hold a referendum to repeal abortion access if elected.

By Natalie Alcoba
20 Oct 2023

Buenos Aires, Argentina – In Argentina, it can be hard to focus on anything but economics during an election year. With an annual inflation rate that has eclipsed 138 percent and a currency that has plunged in value, the dire financial outlook has once again dominated this year’s presidential campaign.

But as voters head to the polls on October 22, social issues are increasingly taking centre stage, in large part due to the popularity of far-right libertarian candidate Javier Milei.

Continued: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/20/with-milei-leading-argentinas-presidential-race-abortion-is-on-the-line


Argentina – She had a miscarriage. Now she’s facing life in prison

By Natalie Alcoba
December 12, 2022

One morning in December 2020, La China* was overcome with abdominal cramps. She has polycystic ovary syndrome and has often suffered severe pain and irregular, heavy periods. The condition was a reason why she hadn’t realised she was pregnant until after eight months with her first child, and until after six months with the second.

That morning, in intense pain, the 43-year-old Venezuelan, who lives in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, took some painkillers and went to bed. But she began bleeding profusely. What happened next is disputed.

Continued: https://bhekisisa.org/features/2022-12-12-she-had-a-miscarriage-now-shes-facing-life-in-prison/


Women’s rights advocates across Americas region say their struggle goes on after top US court overturns Roe v Wade.

By Natalie Alcoba
28 Jun 2022

Feminists in Latin America have long understood their struggle for abortion rights to know no borders. So when the United States Supreme Court decision that stripped women of their right to an abortion in the country became official last week, the blow was personal across North and South America.

“We can’t confide in the state – we only have each other,” said Crystal P Lira, a member of the Tijuana, Mexico-based feminist group Bloodys Collective. “And there are many of us.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/28/latin-american-activists-undeterred-despite-us-abortion-rollback


Argentina’s Decades-Long Fight to Legalize Abortion Ends in Victory

The campaign to legalize abortion began sometime in the late 1970s, when the “grandmothers” of the green wave were living in exile across Europe.

By Cecilia Nowell
Jan, 2021

On Tuesday evening, Argentina was filled with
green: green graffiti proclaiming “Children, Not Mothers,” green banners
exclaiming “It Will Be Law,” and green bandanas reading “National Campaign for
Legal, Safe, and Free Abortion.” Teenagers and grown women alike tied the green
handkerchiefs of the campaign to legalize abortion around their necks to signal
their devotion to the cause as they poured out into the streets of more than
120 cities. Together, they stood vigil for nearly 12 hours as the Argentine
Senate debated a bill to legalize abortion.

Just after 4 AM on Wednesday, as hundreds of thousands waited on the steps of
the Palace of the Argentine National Congress, the news came in: With 38 votes
in favor, 29 opposed, and 1 abstention, abortion was legalized. Crowds cheered
and sobbed with relief.

Continued: https://www.thenation.com/article/world/argentina-abortion-feminism/


Argentina activists renew fight to legalise abortion

Argentina activists renew fight to legalise abortion
Thousands of abortion rights advocates march in Buenos Aires as new legislation is presented in Congress.

by Natalie Alcoba
May 28, 2019

Buenos Aires - In scenes that were repeated across Argentina, thousands of people streamed along the arteries of the capital city of Buenos Aires on Tuesday for a massive demonstration that marked the next chapter in the fight to legalise abortion in the country.

Defiantly thrusting arms brandishing the campaign's emblematic green handkerchief up in the air, the crowd converged before the National Congress, where the new project to legalise abortion up to 14 weeks of pregnancy was officially presented.

Continued: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/argentina-activists-renew-fight-legalise-abortion-190528222852233.html