This week Argentinian senators created another roadblock for abortion rights in their country. Currently abortion is only legal in cases of rape or if the parent’s health is at risk. These conditions are difficult to prove, and many people in Argentina have suffered or even died because of this law. Senators voted 38 to 31 against a bill that would have decriminalized abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.
As the US moves towards criminalizing abortion in some states, it’s important to watch the lives of Argentinians and those in other countries where abortion is illegal. They continue to fight, as should we.
Argentina’s Senate voted 38 to 31 against a bill which would have legalized a woman’s right to seek an abortion into the 14th week of pregnancy. The vote came after an impassioned debate ran into the early hours of Thursday, pushing back against a groundswell of support from a surging abortion rights movement.
The bill had narrowly passed in the lower house in July.
Families and clergy in baby-blue bandanas gathered outside the congressional palace as the result came in just before 3 a.m., waving Argentine flags in support of the Catholic Church’s anti-abortion stance in Pope Francis’ home country.
Abortion rights supporters, clad in green bandanas that have become a symbol of the movement, danced to drum lines and swarmed the city’s streets to the end, despite a biting wind and cold rain.
Many had camped in front of Argentina’s National Congress since Wednesday night.
“I’m still optimistic. It didn’t pass today, but it will pass tomorrow, it will pass the next day,” said abortion rights supporter Natalia Carol, 23. “This is not over.”
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