Argentina: Senate examines abortion bill, defended by feminist activists
With their green scarves, feminist activists are ready to give voice, as in 2018, to support the legalization of abortion.
Because far from weakening, the feminist movement has kept the flame alive.
AP - Natacha Pisarenko
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
In Argentina, the Senate examines on Tuesday a bill, adopted by the Chamber of Deputies, authorizing abortion, without conditions, until the 14th week of pregnancy.
A subject that greatly divides this country of Catholic tradition.
In 2018, the senators, deemed more conservative than the deputies, rejected the legalization of the IGV.
But it could be otherwise this time, because Peronist President Alberto Fernández is at the origin of the text and because the feminist movement is strengthening in Argentinian society.
Publicity
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With our correspondents in Buenos Aire
,
Jean-Louis Buchet
and
Aude Villiers-Moriamé
The text has already been adopted by the deputies, and now passes to the upper house of Congress.
Two years ago, Argentine senators had already
rejected the legalization of abortion
, by seven votes.
This year, the vote promises to be even tighter.
Impossible for the moment to know which side will win.
Argentinian newspapers believe that this will undoubtedly be played out with one or two votes.
In the event of a tie, it will be up to the President of the Senate and Argentine Vice-President, Cristina Kirchner, to decide and she has declared herself in favor of the legalization of abortion.
Feminist activists are therefore very enthusiastic and say they are confident about the outcome of the vote.
Those who wear a green scarf, a symbol of the fight for the right to abortion, will be mobilized on Congress Square during the debates in the Senate.
The feminist movement does not falter
With their green scarves, feminist activists are ready to give their voice, as in 2018, to support the legalization of abortion.
Because far from weakening, the feminist movement has kept the flame alive.
“
I was in front of Congress during the Senate vote in 2018 and I was very disappointed.
I hope it won't be this time around, because this is a very important issue for Argentinian society.
But I trust
: when I see that there are so many people who wear the green headscarf, from teenagers to people over 60, I tell myself that the feminist movement has made abortion an issue. that we can no longer ignore,
”explains Cecilia, who is part of the feminist movement.
For Victoria, another activist, one of the main reasons why abortion remains high on the public agenda is that feminists have communicated on the reality of clandestine abortions, thus raising awareness of the danger of these practices. .
In fact, nearly 40,000 Argentines are hospitalized each year following clandestine abortions carried out in poor sanitary conditions.
At least twelve women have died from it since 2018.
For the journalist and writer Ana Correa, one of the referents of Argentinian feminism, it is the unity that is the strength of the movement: “
We have also shown, especially since the birth of the collective #NiUnaMenos (#PasUneDePlus) and the march against the feminicides of 2015, that, on certain issues, women are able to form alliances and networks that transcend political divisions.
"
The mobilization of anti-abortion
The anti-abortionists will also be present on the other side of Congress Square.
They have adopted
the sky blue scarf
as their emblem and are particularly supported by the Catholic and Evangelical churches.
Their slogan: "
save both lives
", implying that of the pregnant woman and that of the fetus.
In the Senate, the debates start at 4 p.m., and could last for more than ten hours, before a vote scheduled for the night of Tuesday to Wednesday.
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To read: Argentina: MEPs approve the legalization of abortion
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