Argentina's Senate rejects proposed bill to legalize abortion
Argentina's Senate voted against legalizing elective abortion in the early hours of Thursday morning, dashing the hopes of abortion rights advocates in the predominantly Catholic country, homeland of Pope Francis.
The Senate rejected the proposed bill 38 to 31, with two abstentions and one absentee.
The bill, which fueled contentious debate, would have expanded abortion rights to allow women to end a pregnancy in the first 14 weeks.
Current laws allow the procedure only in cases of rape or when the mother's health is at risk.
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Opposition mounted ahead of the vote in Argentina's more conservative Senate after the legislation only narrowly passed through the lower house of Congress in June.
And the bill lost momentum over the weekend when an opposition senator withdrew her support.
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One woman who was demonstrating in favor of abortion rights in Buenos Aires before the vote used Instagram to express her frustration at the result.
"Today no one won," wrote the women who posts under the name Veronnica Diaz.
"The abortions WILL KEEP HAPPENING, the women will continue to die in clandestine abortions and your Neanderthal position of 'saving two lives' in a comfortable social inequality will continue without saving ANY LIFE."
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The bill has ignited passions and sparked widespread protests in Argentina, with anti-abortion campaigners protesting in the streets under blue "save both lives" banners and members of the opposing side in the debate donning green bandanas.
As senators debated the bill into the early hours of Thursday morning, pro-abortion rights activists rallied outside Congress chanting "legal abortion at the hospital" while the Catholic Church held a "Mass for Life" in the capital Buenos Aires.
Speaking during the debate, conservative Senator Marta Varela welcomed the mobilization of anti-abortion campaigners.
"Today I feel like never before that I'm part of a wide sector of our people who defend life in general, from the moment of conception and until death," she said.
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Bolstered by Ireland's referendum in May, which removed one of Europe's last abortion bans, pro-abortion rights activists were hoping they could turn the tide on abortion law in Latin America, where more than 97% of women of reproductive age live in countries with restrictive abortion laws.
On Tuesday, 60 Irish parliamentarians, across political parties and groups, signed a letter to the Argentinian senators urging a vote in favor of the bill.
While Pope Francis hasn't addressed the legislation directly, he did speak out strongly against abortion just days after the bill was approved by the lower house -- comparing abortion to avoid birth defects to Nazi eugenics.
The pontiff also issued a letter in March, as the abortion debate began, urging Argentines to "make a contribution in defense of life and justice."
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