Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Bill (Argentina)

[1][2] In 2018, the bill was introduced into the legislative agenda, with the approval of then-PRO president Mauricio Macri, who was personally against it.

[5] In 2020, the bill was sent to Congress once again (with some modifications) by the administration of new Justicialist Party president Alberto Fernández, who explicitly backed the initiative.

[7][8] The law made Argentina the third (and the first major) Latin American nation to legalize abortion, after Uruguay and Cuba.

A medic that performs an abortion after the 15th week of pregnancy without it being among the accepted cases may be sentenced to prison, from three months to a year.

[13] President Mauricio Macri encouraged the discussion of an abortion law during the 2018 opening of regular sessions of the National Congress of Argentina.

Marcos Peña, chief of the cabinet of ministers, confirmed that Macri would honor the result of the discussion, and would not veto the bill if approved.

During the preliminary discussions in the Senate, there were conflicting views over the chance of doctors refusing to perform abortions as conscientious objectors.

José Mayans considered instead that a state-enforced killing would be similar to a capital punishment, which is not allowed in the Argentine legislation.

He clarified that he was not talking in the name of the government, but just of the ministry of health, and that he only intended to provide relevant statistics, and not engage in the moral aspects of the abortion debate.