Fernandez presents bill to legalize abortion

Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez will send a bill to Congress in a matter of days that seeks to legalise abortion.

This will be first time such an initiative will have the backing of the president. And it could end up as a desired breakthrough for abortion rights in Latin America.

Fernandez made the announcement in the National Congress on Sunday 1st March, 2020.

The new bill is coming two years after a dramatic debate in the home country of Pope Francis in which the legalisation of abortion was narrowly rejected by the Senate.

Fernandez called the current law “ineffective” because it has had no deterrent effect.

“It has also condemned many women, generally of limited resources, to resort to abortive practices in absolute secrecy, putting their health and sometimes their lives at risk,” he said.

“A state that is present must protect citizens in general and obviously women in particular. And in the 21st century, every society needs to respect an individual’s decision to make choices over their own bodies.

“That is why, within the next 10 days, I will present a bill for the voluntary interruption of pregnancy that legalises abortion at the initial time of pregnancy and allows women to access the health system when they make the decision to abort,” he concluded.