August 11, 2018

Women's struggle continues in Argentina

located:	Argentina
editor:	Maria João Morais

In Argentina the legalisation of abortion has never been closer. After June's Parliamentary approval of a law that intends to allow free abortion during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, the country was on the verge of leading a paradigm shift in Latin America. However, on August 8, Argentina’s Senate rejected the bill, preventing it from becoming the fourth Latin American country to legalise abortion, currently only permitted in Cuba, Uruguay and Guyana. Therefore, Argentine women will remain to be only allowed abortion in the case of rape or in life-threatening circumstances.

The vote in the country’s Senate attracted international attention due to the important regional impact its approval could have had. Yet, the struggle of Argentine women, which generated an unprecedented mobilisation in the streets of the country (with women turning out in huge numbers on the streets in a vigil that accompanied the Senate’s session), will have to continue.

In the rest of the continent, abortion remains illegal or very restrictive, largely because of the strong influence of the Catholic Church, which retains enormous power throughout Latin America.

The most serious situation is in Central American countries such as the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua and Haiti, where abortion is completely prohibited, and in El Salvador where women who interrupt their pregnancies may face up to 30 years in prison.

The dire consequences of such restrictions on women are chilling. The World Health Organisation estimates that 22 million unsafe abortions occur worldwide and 47,000 women die from unsafe abortion complications each year around the world.

Although this time the Senate has blocked the passing of the new bill, the huge mobilisation indicates, however, that there is no going back and that in the near future Argentine women expect to see total decriminalisation of abortion. The hope is that, as with the legalisation of same-sex marriage in 2010 – which made Argentina the first Latin American country to implement such a law – Argentina will eventually allow abortion and pave the way for other countries in the region and women on the continent to finally be able to terminate their pregnancies without endangering their own life. Until this is a reality, it is certain that the women on the Latin American continent will continue to fight for their rights and personal safety.

Photo: Fotografías Emergentes