03/01/2020 - 13:13
- Clarín.com
- Politics
President Alberto Fernández announced, at the opening of the Legislative Assembly, that within the next ten days he will present "a bill for the voluntary termination of pregnancy".
"A law that legalizes abortion in the initial time of pregnancy and allows women to access the health system when they make the decision to abort," he said.
In this regard, he remarked: "In the 21st century, every society needs to respect the individual decision of its members to freely dispose of their bodies." And he questioned: "The current legislation on abortion is not effective."
He also announced the "thousand-day plan" to accompany pregnant women who are in a vulnerable situation.
During his tour of Europe, President Fernández confirmed his willingness to push for a bill to try to get Congress to approve the decriminalization of abortion and thus allow any termination of pregnancy to take place in public health centers.
" The problem in Argentina is that every abortion is clandestine . I do not live in peace with my conscience knowing that a woman, who may need to have an abortion, does not have the necessary economic conditions to pay for that treatment and ends up in the hands of a healer , which ends up hurting her and sometimes killing her, "Fernandez said.
The official initiative was jointly designed by the Ministries of Health, by Ginés Gonzáles García; that of Women, Gender and Diversity, led by Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta, and that of Social Development led by Daniel Arroyo.
From feminist associations and other groups in favor of abortion, they criticized that the Government's project reflects the possibility that private health centers and their professionals can justify their refusal to carry out pregnancy interruptions alleging conscientious objection.
A current social claim
The demand to decriminalize abortion is one of the most valid social claims and that phenomenon was confirmed with the massive mobilization that took place on February 19 in front of Congress to claim changes in the laws.
The decriminalization of abortion was thwarted when in August 2018 the Senate rejected a project that achieved half a sanction in the Chamber of Deputies.
"It seems good to us that the Executive presents a project, but they talk about public health and we talk about women's rights. We do not penalize women but those who hinder access. Our project does not speak of conscientious objection and we will never accept the institutional conscientious objection. Access must be in public and private centers, "said Nina Brugo, one of the founders of the National Campaign for the Right to Safe and Free Legal Abortion.
The massive mobilization in front of the Legislative Palace was carried out by thousands of people and fundamentally militants of groups of all kinds, from feminist groups, through medical unions, teachers and students.
"Sex education to decide", "Contraceptives not to abort" or "Legal abortion not to die" were some of the slogans most heard in that march, not only at the gates of Congress, but also in other Argentine cities.
"The project of Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy is the result of the consensus of hundreds of feminist organizations with political, social, trade union, artistic, academic and Human Rights organizations," said the organization behind these mobilizations.