The Argentine Senate, the last obstacle to legalizing abortion in Argentina

A woman excited after the decision of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies to approve a bill that allows free and legal access to abortion.Natacha Pisarenko / AP

“We have been waiting for this moment for decades.

Legal abortion is a social and transversal claim ”, say in a letter more than 1,500 personalities of Argentine culture.

“It is time to make history.

The world is watching us, ”adds the document released this Sunday, two days after the decisive vote.

On Tuesday, the Senate will begin to debate the bill of voluntary interruption of pregnancy that allows free abortion until week 14. The norm has already been approved in the Chamber of Deputies and the vote of the senators remains.

If "Yes" wins, Argentina will become the first great country in Latin America to recognize the right of women to decide over their bodies, following in the footsteps of Uruguay, Cuba, Guyana and Mexico City.

In the absence of a day, the result of the vote is uncertain and supporters and detractors fight vote by vote to tip the balance in his favor.

A couple of undecided people are keeping their vote secret, it is unknown if former President Carlos Menem - admitted in serious condition at 90 due to kidney failure - will be able to vote 'No' remotely from the clinic and a handful of legislators are analyzing modifying their position with respect to 2018, when the Upper House rejected legalizing abortion by 38 votes against, 31 in favor and two abstentions.

#EsAhoraSenado 💚 is to sweep away the underground that exists.

It is health, it is rights, it is a debt, it is taking care of the lives of thousands of women.

It is x us, x those who come, it is x all and all.

#seraley pic.twitter.com/DUsWjZJr4I

- Gisela Busaniche (@gisebu) December 27, 2020

What has changed since then?

Two years ago, President Mauricio Macri was against it, but he enabled the legislative debate and announced that he would not veto the law if it was approved.

His successor, Alberto Fernández, is the first incumbent president to support legal abortion.

She maintains that criminalizing this practice has not deterred those determined to terminate their pregnancy.

“It has only allowed abortions to occur clandestinely in worrying numbers.

Each year around 38,000 women are hospitalized for miscarriages, ”he said when sending the bill to Congress.

In 2018, the last year with official data, 35 women died from complications derived from clandestine abortions.

“If this project is approved, we will not violate anyone's beliefs.

We are going to have less suffering of women and fewer preventable deaths ”, agrees the Legal and Technical Secretary, Vilma Ibarra, coordinator of the team that drafted the bill.

The norm contemplates that pregnant people can abort freely and safely in public health through, in most cases, outpatient care using abortion pills.

Gender gap

The legislation in force in Argentina on abortion dates back to 1921 and provides penalties of up to four years in prison for those who interrupt their pregnancy, except in the case of rape or risk of life to the mother.

A century ago, women could not vote, let alone be deputies or senators.

Today, in the power of 40% of the Senate seats, the gender gap in this vote is also evident: among those who have anticipated their vote there are at least 16 women in favor and 9 against.

Among his male colleagues, there are so far 16 in favor and 24 against.

It is the ninth time that a project for the voluntary interruption of pregnancy has been presented in the Argentine Congress, but the first that it has been drawn up and promoted by the Government.

The Executive also accompanies the initiative with a proposal to reinforce maternal and child care during pregnancy and the first thousand days of the baby's life for those women who decide to give birth.

The pressure of the Executive on its legislators was key to the approval of other previous laws that also had broad opposition from religious and conservative sectors, such as the equal marriage law in 2010 and the gender identity law, in 2012. The Government It is trying to get senators from the ruling Frente de Todos who voted against it in 2018 to change their position, but there are also some opponents who could react in reverse to thwart a government victory.

In the event of a tie, the head of the Senate, former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, will decide, who voted in favor convinced by her daughter Florencia and by the high school students who led the

green tide

marches

in favor of legal abortion in 2018. The activism of the youngest, added to that of the oldest and the legislative discussion of that year, contributed to the fact that abortion ceased to be a taboo and became a subject of intense debate in public opinion.

Despite the covid-19 pandemic, thousands of people will spend the night awake in the streets until the time of the vote, scheduled for the early morning of December 30. The square in front of the Congress will once again be divided with fences to separate green protesters - for legal abortion - and blue - against -, as happened two weeks ago, when it was the turn of the Chamber of Deputies, which approved the bill for law by 131 votes in favor, 117 against and 6 abstentions. "Argentina has already voted, Argentina is heavenly," those who opposed the voluntary termination of pregnancy assured early in the morning of December 11. "It will be law", "we are making history", they responded from the other side of the square.