Argentina has made extraordinary strides in expanding human and civil rights since the fall of its murderous dictatorship in 1983. That progress was especially notable during the administrations of presidents Nestor Kirchner (2003-2007) and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (2007-2015). During their administrations, they successfully brought to trial members of the dictatorial regime, enacted South America’s first marriage equality legislation, and steered the country to granting what is even today the world’s most progressive law recognizing and protecting transgender identity.
Nevertheless, the power couple were never able to advance one key right for women: control over their reproductive choices. Argentina has done a lot in this area, including mandating sex education in public schools, making birth control pills and “morning after” pills available at pharmacies without a prescription, and covering their costs under the national healthcare system.
But abortion? It is still a problematic issue in this nominally Catholic country. Although the Church has seen a huge drop-off of the truly faithful, the religious tradition and culture have proven resilient to some social changes. As would be expected, abortion-on-request is a line the Church insists that Argentina must not cross.
Of course, it’s not just a Catholic objection. Many people of other faiths, or no faith, find abortion morally problematic (as well as similar issues like gay marriage and transgender rights). Overall, however, the country has a progressive attitude about sexuality and reproductive rights; numerous surveys and studies have shown majority support for expanding the right to terminate a pregnancy. In a recent survey, one item really surprised me: men more strongly supported decriminalizing abortion than women, by 63% to 55%.
So the country has been jawing about this subject for ages and the politicians have been chattering as well but little real progress has occurred. Today, the politicos finally put their words into action and the lower house — the Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados) — passed a bill which will permit elective abortion up to 14 weeks. It narrowly squeaked by in a vote of 129-125.
The next step is just like with our own Congress. The bill will go to the Senate where it will go through hearings and debates and such before a vote. There is no timetable yet for all that to occur. The Senate tends to be more conservative than the Deputies so passage is most definitely not guaranteed; progressive forces will be applying great pressure in coming weeks and months but the outcome is iffy, at best. Should the bill pass the Senate, it is pretty much certain to become law — President Mauricio Macri has promised not to veto it and has urged senators to vote their consciences rather than uphold the policy position of their respective political parties.
In the meantime, where does this leave pregnant women in Argentina? Well, it’s good news and bad news.
Argentina is much better than some Latin American nations, where women have absolutely no legal rights to abortion for any reason. It is permitted here under certain circumstances, mainly pregnancy due to rape or to protect the life or mental health of the woman. The rub is in the implementation of the laws that enable those options.
Although Argentine federal law has supremacy, it’s up to the provinces to carry it out. So some provinces are pretty good about complying but others do their best to thwart and obfuscate, much like our own Red/Blue states division. Bureaucratic hurdles make it extremely unlikely for a woman to receive a legal-and-safe abortion in much of the country.
Added to that is the personal reluctance of many medical providers — doctors, hospitals, nurses, and so on — to be involved in an abortion even when it meets the legal requirements that would permit it. There is no such thing here equivalent to Planned Parenthood with clinics specifically operating to ensure access to legal abortions.
Thus, Argentina has a very high number of clandestine abortions, with all of the legal and medical risks that that entails. Estimates are that somewhere between 300,000 and 550,000 illicit abortions are carried out each year, in a population of 43 million people. There were 43 deaths known last year due to illegal abortions but that number is likely way, way low. Because of the legal risks, complications and deaths are not reported as such but masked as due to some other underlying cause.
That, of course, is one of the arguments being effectively used by pro-choice activists and groups here, like Ni Una Menos: women are having abortions in Argentina anyway, regardless of the law, so why not make them safer?
That message got through to enough Deputies to allow today’s passage of the bill. We will see if the Senators can be convinced as well.
An English-language news site in Argentina, The Bubble, has written some excellent articles about abortion and Argentine law and politics:
Contraceptive Access: The State of Reproductive Healthcare Ahead of the Abortion Vote
Abortion in Argentina by the Numbers
Abortion: Lower House Passes Decriminalization Bill