Protest in favor of abortion rights in Buenos Aires, March 2018. Image: Fotografías Emergentes, via International Woman's Coalition. All rights reserved.
Last March 6, more than 70 members of the Argentine Congress supported a bill to decriminalize abortion. The proposed bill would give women the right to access a legal abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, for any reason, without facing criminal charges.
In the past 13 years, 6 such bills have been presented to Congress, with little success. Current Argentinian law only permits abortion when the woman’s life or health is in danger, or in the case of rape. The bill now to be considered by Congress has renewed the hopes of feminist activists in the country, not least because the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe, and Free Abortion has played a vital role in shaping it. In a country where religion plays an important role, Catholics for the Right to Decide-Argentina (CDD-Argentina), a longtime grantee partner of the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC), is one of the leaders of the National Campaign.
