Argentina could be first country in Latin America to legalize abortion on demand

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jul 19, 2004 / 22:00 pm

Argentina is in danger of becoming the first country in Latin America—with the exception of Cuba—to legalize abortion “on demand and unrestricted” if a bill reforming the Penal Code passes in the Buenos Aires State Legislature.

According to the NOTIVIDA news agency, a bill addressing “pregnancies incompatible with life” consists of “a plan to legalize abortion” in the Buenos Aires province, the most populous in the country.

According to the source, “with the excuse of regulating the performing of non-punishable abortions, now they want to expand in an abusive and unconstitutional fashion the list of situations in which the Penal Code permits abortion.”

The bill stipulates, “When a doctor or psychologist concludes that the pregnancy is affecting a woman’s health—physical or psychiatric—they shall be obliged to notify her and, simultaneously, offer her the possibility of ‘terminating the pregnancy.’ If the woman agrees, the abortion shall take place within a span of 6 days.  The heath care professional that refuses to perform the abortion—because of conscientious objection—shall be replaced or substituted immediately.”

The pregnancy could be terminated at any stage of development.

According to NOTIVIDA, the bill constitutes a manipulation of the Penal Code by allowing abortion for reasons of the “psychiatric health” of the mother, no longer requiring doctors and psychologists to prove that such “danger” cannot be resolved by other means.  By creating an exception for the “psychiatric health” of the mother, proponents are opening the door for abortion for any reason.  The bill would guarantee abortion in cases of rape, claiming that pregnancies that result from sexual assault cause “psychiatric unbalance.”