Does Argentina have any hope that legalised abortion will happen?

Young activists from Argentina, and the media, are all in support of legalising abortion. Over 1000 public figures, writers, journalists and artists have added their names to an advertisement published over the weekend in three Argentinean newspapers calling on the government to preserve its commitment.

Somewhere down the line, the government was talking about legalising abortion, and now pro-choice activists have all the reasons for renewing pressure on President Alberto Fernández to make good on his electoral promise.

Argentina is a staunchly Catholic nation that has never required abortion to be legalised. But Fernández’s previous argument in March, all for legalised abortion, seems to have died out. One could blame it for the continuing war against the downturn in the pandemic economy. Political analysts, however, think otherwise.

In Argentina, almost seven out of 10 pregnancies are accidental among under 19-year-olds. The majority of these girls and women live in low-income households and, according to a study released by Human Rights Watch in August, pregnancy is often the result of violence.