Daily US Times, Buenos Aires: Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández has said he will send a bill to legalise abortion to Congress within the next 10 days, marking the first time the initiative will have the backing of the president in what could be a significant breakthrough for abortion rights in Latin America.
The president has previously described abortion as “a matter of public health”. He made the announcement in the National Congress on Sunday, while thousands of people gathered outside, including women brandishing the green handkerchief of abortion right and some were even crying during the speech of Alberto Fernández.
In Argentina, abortion is only allowed in rape cases or if the mother’s health is in danger.
Abortion is largely prohibited across Latin America, except in restricted cases. If the bill is passed, Argentina would be the largest country in the region to legalise abortion.
“Abortion happens, it’s a fact,” the president said in his first annual address to Congress. “A state should protect citizens in general and women in particular. And in the 21st Century, every society needs to respect the individual choice of its members to decide freely about their bodies.”

The president also promised to introduce a programme to improve sex education.
A previous attempt to change the law in Argentina was failed. Argentina’s population is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic.
In 2018, a bill to legalise abortion within the first 14 weeks of pregnancy was narrowly approved in the congress but ultimately rejected by the senate.
But this time, the situation is different as the president himself is behind the bill.
The Argentine government estimates that 350,000 illegal abortions take place in the country every year, but human rights groups estimate the number could be as high as 500,000. That vast number of abortions in the second-most populous country in South America put women’s lives at risk.
Many women who try to access abortions that are legal also face obstacles, with doctors invoking religious or moral objections.
Rape victims
In February last year, the debate surrounding abortion resurfaced when an 11-year-old rape gave birth by C-section.
The girl was raped by her grandmother’s 65-year-old partner. She had requested an abortion but the procedure was repeatedly delayed over questions about the identity of her guardian.
Guyana, Cuba, and Uruguay are the only Latin American countries to permit abortion in the first weeks of pregnancy. Abortion is completely banned in El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Haiti.
Advancing women’s rights
Human rights activists expressed their joy over the president’s decision. The country’s feminist movement is pushing to legalise elective abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.
women’s rights activist Ana Correa said she was delighted with Fernandez’s decision. Ms Correa wrote Somos Belen, a book about an Argentine woman who was imprisoned after suffering a miscarriage.
She said, “We’re very happy and hopeful. We will have some important opponents, but it’s going to be very difficult for legislators to oppose this project because there really is very compelling proof of how clandestine abortions impact women.”