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"We want it to be the law so that there is not one more death from clandestine abortions"

2020-12-29T20:10:48.402Z


The Argentine Senate votes a project of voluntary interruption of pregnancy that allows free abortion until week 14


Argentina mobilizes en masse in the streets when an important law is at stake.

And none has generated as much expectation this 2020 as the voluntary interruption of pregnancy that the Argentine Senate votes on Tuesday.

Hours before the historic session began, on the north side of the square in front of the Congress, green scarves in favor of legal, safe and free abortion could already be seen tied to wrists, necks, as a headband, in backpacks, bars, streetlights. and everywhere possible.

Dozens of people wait impatiently in the sun to sing "Legal abortion in the hospital."

As the minutes go by, they are more and more.

On the other side of the fences, on the south side, a group of Catholics pray to ask that senators reject the legalization of abortion and the banner placed on a giant bloody fetus warns legislators that their hands will be “stained with the blood of innocents ”If they approve the bill.

The initiative, approved in the Chamber of Deputies two weeks ago, contemplates that pregnant people will be able to access a legal abortion until week 14 by signing a written consent.

It also stipulates a maximum period of ten days between the request for interruption of the pregnancy and its performance, in order to prevent maneuvers that delay abortion until it is prevented.

Unlike in the lower house, where approval was discounted, the outcome in the more conservative Senate is uncertain.

Two years ago, the Upper House rejected the law and today the numbers are very even, which leaves everything in the hands of a handful of undecided.

Among those who have anticipated their vote, there is a large gender gap: 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.

In the northern provinces of the country, the most Catholic, most legislators are against it.

In the Argentine capital and the province of Buenos Aires, on the other hand, almost all the representatives are in favor of legalization.

In the event of a tie, the head of the Senate, former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, will decide.

He was against most of his political career, but in 2018 he voted in favor, convinced by his daughter Florencia and by the high school students who led the marches of the

green tide

.

The current Argentine vice president began the session minutes after four in the afternoon.

If the speakers respected the allotted time, the vote would take place around four in the morning, but most likely it will be delayed by at least one more hour.

“We want it to be the law so that there is not one more death from clandestine abortions.

By María Campos.

By Liliana.

By Elizabeth.

By Rupercia.

By Paulina.

By Rosario.

For the more than 3,000 women who have died from clandestine abortions since the return of democracy, "says Jimena López, 27, with a banner that reads" Legal abortion is social justice. "

Current legislation allows the termination of a pregnancy in the event of rape or risk to the life or health of the mother.

In all other cases, it is a crime punishable by jail.

Still, criminalization is not a deterrent: according to unofficial estimates, up to half a million women have clandestine abortions each year.

In 2018, 38 women died from medical complications stemming from unsafe abortions.

About 39,000 had to be hospitalized for the same cause.

"We are holding 120 vigils across the country at the federal level to ask the Senate this time to listen to a demand it has for human rights, public health and social justice," demands Mariángeles Guerrero, a member of the National Campaign for the right to legal, safe and free abortion.

He maintains that since the previous vote until now there has been a social decriminalization of abortion.

“In 2018 we did not achieve the law but we did raise awareness about a problem: today there are women who are aborting in precarious and unhealthy conditions.

Abortion ceased to be a taboo subject that was talked about under the breath and began to be an issue that had to be debated politically to guarantee safe conditions in which to perform these abortions, ”he adds.

The Senate decides within hours whether to approve or reject that law again.


Source: elparis

All life articles on 2020-12-29

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