Abortion in Argentina
[12] Since 2007, the Campaign has annually submitted an abortion legalisation bill to the National Congress, but it was added to the legislative agenda for the first time in 2018,[13] when then President Mauricio Macri sponsored the debate.
The same penalty applied to doctors, surgeons, midwives, and pharmacists that induced or cooperated in the induction of an abortion, with the addition of a special license withdrawal for two times the length of their sentence.
[23][24][25] Enforcement of anti-abortion legislation was variable and complex; there are multiple NGOs providing women with help to access drugs that can interrupt pregnancies, as well as doctors who openly perform the procedure.
After a visit to the Vatican and an interview with Pope John Paul II, President Carlos Menem passed a decree declaring March 25th the Day of the Unborn Child.
It also ruled that provincial governments should write protocols for the request and treatment of legal abortions in case of rape or life threat.
[35][36] In early 2018, after years of lobbying by different groups, then President Mauricio Macri encouraged the discussion of an abortion law during the 2018 opening of regular sessions of the National Congress of Argentina.
[50] A bill to outlaw abortion was sent by La Libertad Avanza representative Rocío Bonacci in February 2024, but it failed to receive the support of her own party.
Physicians, due to lack of knowledge of the law and fearing legal punishment, often demanded that the patient or her family request judicial authorization before terminating a pregnancy, which sometimes extended the wait beyond the time when it is advisable to abort.
[52] An abortion protocol, drafted by the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI), was presented to provinicial health ministers and legislatures for consideration, starting in May 2007.
Physicians assisting a woman covered by Article 86 of the Penal Code are obligated to explain her condition to the patient, offering the choice of terminating the pregnancy, as well as counseling before and after the abortion.
The protocol explicitly forbids the judicialization of the procedure and warns that physicians who delay a legal abortion are liable to administrative sanctions and civil or penal prosecution.
[57][58] The law, however, was vetoed by governor Oscar Mario Jorge as one of his first acts of government, less than three weeks later, with the argument that its new interpretation of previous legislation could be deemed unconstitutional.
[59] On 12 December 2019, the Argentina Ministry of Health issued a protocol expanding hospital abortion access to pregnancies which resulted from rape.
[citation needed] It is a common belief in Argentina that, the higher the economic status of the pregnant woman, the easier it is for her to get a safe abortion, while poorer women often cannot afford a clandestine procedure under sanitary conditions or post-abortion care.
[67] A 2007 survey by Mónica Petracci, Doctor in Social Sciences, showed that 37% of Argentines agree with abortion when the woman wishes; another 56% disapprove of the measure.
[68] In a survey conducted in September 2011, nonprofit organization Catholics for Choice found that 45% of Argentines were in favor of abortion for any reason in the first twelve weeks.
This same poll conducted in September 2011 also suggested that most Argentines favoured abortion being legal when a woman's health or life is at risk (81%), when the pregnancy is a result of rape (80%) or the fetus has severe abnormalities (68%).
[70] Several cases of pregnancy resulting from rape and one involving a nonviable fetus have sparked debate about abortion in Argentina since the beginning of the 21st century.
Most notably, the sentence prompted Health Minister Ginés González García to state his support for legal abortion for rape victims.
Her mother noticed the pregnancy, guessed what had taken place, and went to the public San Martín Hospital in La Plata to request the abortion, allowed under the provisions of the Penal Code.
The family of the victim was approached by a non-governmental organization that collected money and paid for the mentally disabled woman to have the abortion performed in a private context, by an undisclosed physician.
The mother of the victim requested and was granted judicial authorization, but as the pre-surgical tests were being performed at the Luis Lagomaggiore Hospital, the abortion was blocked by an injunction interposed by a Catholic organization.
