"I will present within 10 days a bill on the voluntary termination of pregnancy, which will authorize abortion in the first months of pregnancy," Argentine President Alberto Fernandez told congress Sunday March 1, 81 days after. coming to power.

A bill to this effect had been rejected by the Senate in 2018 under the government of its center-right predecessor Mauricio Macri.

The announcement was greeted with long and loud applause, and sparked enthusiasm among the thousands of protesters gathered outside the gates of the convention center.

"There are abortions, it is a fact" and women resort to them "in the most clandestine and total," said the president.

In fact, 400,000 abortions each year

In Argentina, abortion is only legal in cases of rape or danger to the life of the mother. But each year, around 400,000 abortions are performed, according to organizations for the defense of women.

"All of society must respect everyone's individual decision to dispose of their bodies," he continued.

In June 2018, the Chamber of Deputies approved the legalization of abortion until the 14th week of gestation, but the Senate rejected it. Today, Alberto Fernandez's party has an absolute majority in the upper house.

Hundreds of thousands of people have since mobilized to support this project, sporting green scarves as a rallying sign, while many anti-abortion marches were organized by religious groups, who brandished sky blue scarves.

With AFP

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