Latin America

sandensea

(21,692 posts) Thu Aug 9, 2018, 02:20 AM Aug 2018

Argentine Senate rejects bill legalizing abortion

The Argentine Senate rejected a bill that would have legalized abortion on demand up to the 14th week.

The bill, passed by the Lower House on June 14, was rejected by 38 votes to 31 with three abstentions after a marathon session that concluded at 2:30 am local time.

All but 8 of the 25 senators belonging to President Mauricio Macri's right-wing "Let's Change" alliance voted against the reform.

Supporters vowed to bring up the bill again next year or after the 2019 elections, which polls - and the worst recession in 16 years - suggest could bring in a new administration and a somewhat more progressive Congress.

The legislation had sparked heated debate in the largely Catholic nation of 44 million. No abortion rights bill had ever passed either house of Congress, despite seven previous efforts since 1983.

Over 300,000 abortions are performed annually in Argentina despite current law, which since 1921 allows for the procedure only in cases of rape, incest, or to save the mother's life.

Up to 50,000 Argentine women are hospitalized annually for complications, of which 43 died in 2016. In Latin America only Cuba and Uruguay guarantee abortion rights.

"It's a shame we couldn't find consenus, since this problem will still be with us," former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, a leading proponent, said in closing remarks an hour before the vote.

"I'm 65, and have two grand-daughters. By the time they're in high school, this will be the law - have no doubt," she told opponents.

"When their high school classmates ask them about me, I don't want to be remembered as someone who didn't understand."

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.infonews.com%2Fnota%2F317583%2Fel-senado-rechazo-el-proyecto-de-legalizacion&edit-text=

Demonstrators for (left) and against a bill legalizing abortion on demand up to the 14th week gather in front of Argentina's Congress last night.

The bill was defeated by 38 to 31; but supporters have vowed to bring it up for a vote again next year or in 2020, when Macri's right-wing alliance is expected to no longer be in power.

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Argentine Senate rejects bill legalizing abortion (Original Post) sandensea Aug 2018 OP

Opus Dei tighterns its coils on Argentina yet again. Looking forward to the next skirmish. Judi Lynn Aug 2018 #1

Glad you found it informative, Judi. It was indeed disappointing - though not altogether surprising. sandensea Aug 2018 #2

Judi Lynn

(160,655 posts)

1. Opus Dei tighterns its coils on Argentina yet again. Looking forward to the next skirmish.

Reply to sandensea (Original post)

Thu Aug 9, 2018, 04:39 PM

Aug 2018

Hoping to see a completely different (sane) result.

Sandensea, that is an excellent image. Have never seen the city from that position before this photo. Beautiful at night. Such a big turnout by people wanting to express their beliefs.

Thanks for the information.

sandensea

(21,692 posts)

2. Glad you found it informative, Judi. It was indeed disappointing - though not altogether surprising.

Reply to Judi Lynn (Reply #1)

Thu Aug 9, 2018, 05:39 PM

Aug 2018

While only around 20% of Argentines actually attend mass regularly, many of the rest repect the Church as an authority on these "moral" issues.

To me, what's immoral is deliberately letting up to 50,000 women be hospitalized annually due to what are mostly preventable complications from abortions (mostly infections).

Fortunately, access to care is widespread in Argentina, such that in 2016, only 43 of those women died (less than 1 in 1,000 of those who developed complications).

Kirchner-era health policy helped (in 2002, it was 100 such deaths); but decriminalizing abortion was a crucial final step.

As noted in the article, most (17 out of 25) of Macri's senators voted against it; his Vice President, Gabriela Michetti, even called one of the senators who supported it an "idiot, always busting my balls" (!). She blurted out "alright!" when the vote was announced.

The man she called an "idiot," Senator Luis Petcoff, lost his ex-wife and son during a carbon monoxide leak in their home in June (a winter month in Argentina, as you know).

As for the photo, that would be Congressional Plaza (Plaza del Congreso), with downtown Buenos Aires in the background.

The neighborhood - called Balvanera - declined steadily from the '60s until its low point around 2003/04 as many middle-class white residents left and moved to the more upscale northside (i.e. anything north of Córdoba Avenue).

The neighborhood has been making a comeback since '05 or so, with lots of vintage buildings being refurbished (here's a nice example: https://www.zonaprop.com.ar/propiedades/virrey-cevallos-al-500-43623237.html).

Thanks as always for reading, Judi. Have a great weekend!

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