After 12 hours of discussion in the senate, the law was approved with a much wider margin than anticipated: 38 votes in favour, 29 against and one abstention. The result delighted campaigners, some of whom had been camping outside Argentina’s national congress for two days. As late as the day of the debate, the senators who had declared their positions were evenly split for and against, with four undecided.
Abortion has long been the topic of a public debate between feminists, who have demanded its decriminalisation and legalisation for decades, and conservatives, who refuse to accept it as a right under any circumstances. The bill’s passing has resolved this debate in favour of the many thousands of women who have campaigned tirelessly for years for the legal right to control their own bodies.
CHACO, Argentina, February 2, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – After an injunction filed by pro-lifers, a judge in the northern province of Chaco, Argentina has blocked the recently enacted abortion law from taking effect in the region. Up until early January 2021, abortion in Argentina was a crime punishable of up to four years in prison. Now, Law 27.610 on Access to Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy (IVE) has legalized abortion up to 15 weeks. But for now, the law is blocked in the province of Chaco.
Judge Marta Aucar approved the precautionary measure, which defends the rights of the unborn child and declares the new law unconstitutional. It reads in part, “The execution of abortion procedures restricts, undermines, abuses, limits and alters the right to life of the unborn child, [which is] protected by our legal system from conception.” The petitioners behind the pro-life initiative are Hilda Beatriz Dellamea, Christina Araceli Chemes, Clelia Mirtha Avila, Gabreila Monzon, and Claud
The Argentine Catholic Church has repudiated the law and conservative doctors and lawyers groups have urged resistance. Doctors and health professionals can claim conscientious objection to performing abortions, but cannot invoke the right if a pregnant woman’s life or health is in danger.
A statement signed by the Consortium of Catholic Doctors, the Catholic Lawyers Corporation and other groups called on doctors and lawyers to “resist with nobility, firmness and courage the norm that legalizes the abominable crime of abortion.
The anti-abortion group Unidad Provida also urged doctors, nurses and technicians to fight for their “freedom of conscience” and promised to accompany them in all the trials that are necessary.”
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Argentina’s abortion law enters force under watchful eyes January 25, 2021 10:11 AM CDT By Almudena Calatrava
In this Dec. 30, 2020 file photo, abortion-rights activists watch live video streaming of lawmakers in session, outside Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Argentina became the largest nation in Latin America to legalize elective abortion after its Senate on Dec. 30 passed a law guaranteeing the procedure up to the 14th week of pregnancy. The abortion law goes into force Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. | Natacha Pisarenko/AP