Argentina legalizes abortion

Argentina's Senate has passed legislation to legalize abortion on demand up to the 14th week, becoming the third Latin American nation - after Cuba and Uruguay - to guarantee abortion rights.

The bill, passed by the Lower House on December 11, was approved by 38 senators to 29 with one abstention.

President Alberto Fernández - the country's first pro-choice president - had the bill introduced on November 17, and is expected to sign it into law.

The bill had sparked heated debate in this largely Catholic nation of 45 million. A similar bill had passed in the House in 2018 but failed in the Senate - and would have likely been vetoed by then-President Mauricio Macri.

Over 300,000 abortions are performed annually in Argentina despite restrictive current law, which since 1921 allows for exceptions only in cases of rape, for girls under 13, or for reasons of health.

Some 38,000 Argentine women were hospitalized in 2018 for abortion-related complications, of which 35 died.

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Argentine Vice President Cristina Kirchner presides today's Senate vote legalizing abortion on demand up to the 14th week.

The bill, the ninth public effort to legalize abortion in Argentina since 1984, is supported by President Alberto Fernández - the country's first openly pro-choice president.

"Abortion is a public health problem," Fernández noted. "The rest is hypocrisy."