Argentina becomes the first large Latin American country to legalize abortion

According to the BBC, a minimum of 350,000 illegal abortions occur annually in Argentina, a figure that some activist groups feel is undercounting the real number. Illegal abortions can lead to health complications and even death for the people who experience them — the World Health Organization estimates that up to 13.2 percent of maternal deaths worldwidecan be attributed to unsafe abortions.

Argentina has seen adherence to Catholicism decline in recent years, according to a study from the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET). The Buenos Aires Times reports that in 2019, 62.9 percent of the population identified as Catholic, a 13.6 percentage point drop since 2008. Simultaneously, whileevangelicals gained new adherents, the share of people identifying with no religion grew the most, reaching nearly 20 percent of the population.”

“While Argentina is still a largely Catholic country, this decline could explain why Pope Francis’s comments opposing legalizing abortion did not have an overwhelming effect on the outcome of this vote. Francis, who was born and worked in Argentina for much of his life, has referred to abortion as being part of a “throwaway culture” and has rooted his opposition to the medical procedure as being based in science, according to Crux, a Catholic online newspaper.

According to France 24, Catholics weren’t alone in opposing the measure; they joined forces with the country’s growing evangelical wing to mobilize against abortion. They will likely fight to overturn this measure, especially as this change exposes Argentina’s religious fault lines.

But the victorious activists are the abortion rights feminists who have spent years fighting for abortion legalization.”

“Argentina became the biggest country in Latin America to legalize elective abortion”

https://www.vox.com/2020/12/30/22206189/argentina-abortion-legalization-womens-rights-ni-una-menos-pope-francis-latin-america

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