Argentina is set to become the first major Latin American country to legalise abortion.
In Argentina, abortion is allowed only in cases of rape, or if the mother’s health is in danger, but President Alberto Fernández has now confirmed that he will send a bill to legalise abortion to Congress within the next 10 days.
“The state must protect its citizens in general and women in particular,” he said in his first annual address to congress on Sunday night. “Society in the 21st century needs to respect the individual choice of its members to freely decide about their bodies.”
When the bill is approved, Argentina will become the first major nation in the region to legalise the practice.
In a predominantly Roman Catholic region of 21 countries in Latin America, abortion is only legal in Cuba and Uruguay, with populations of 11.2 and 3.4 million respectively.
Back in 2018, a bill to legalise abortion within the first 14 weeks of pregnancy in Argentina was approved by Congress but was later rejected by the country’s Senate. But there are reports that a push for the bill for the second is likely going to be approved with the country’s president behind the bill.
