Keypoints:
- Until now, Argentine law has only allowed abortion when there is a serious risk to the health of the mother or in cases of rape.
- Argentina became the first major country in Latin America to legalize abortion when the Senate voted early on Wednesday to allow it through the 14th week of pregnancy.
On Wednesday, Argentina became the first major country in Latin America to legalise abortion when then senate voted for it and allowed abortion through the 14th week of pregnancy, in the face of opposition from the influential Catholic Church.
On Tuesday,a marathon debate began at 4 pm (1900 GMT) and the fiercely contentious vote was passed with 38 in favour, 29 against it and one abstention.
As the result was read out, a crowd of thousands erupted in cheers outside the Senate building in Buenos Aires.A triumphant message flashed up on a big screen above the joyful crowd: “We did it!” it said. “ES LEY!” (IT’S LAW!).
The Senate vote on Wednesday was a major victory for Latin America’s growing feminist movement, and its ripple effects are likely to be widespread.
“We did it sisters. We made history. We did it together. There are no words for this moment, it passes through the body and the soul,” tweeted Monica Macha, a lawmaker with President Alberto Fernandez’ centre-left ruling coalition which supported the law.
The bill, which legalises terminations in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, was approved by Argentina’s lower house earlier this month after being put to congress by the country’s leftwing president, Alberto Fernández.
“Safe, legal and free abortion is now law … Today we are a better society,” Fernández celebrated on Twitter after the result was confirmed.
Fernández has previously said that more than 3,000 women had died as a result of unsafe, underground abortions in Argentina since the return of democracy in 1983.
“Adopting a law that legalizes abortion in a Catholic country as big as Argentina will energize the struggle to ensure women’s rights in Latin America,” said Juan Pappier, a senior Americas researcher at Human Rights Watch.
