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.