Argentina

OVERVIEW

In Argentina, you will find many health care resources, especially in Buenos Aires.Throughout the country, contraception (birth control) is fully legal, and you can find birth control pills, IUDs, shots and patches. You can also obtain emergency contraception ("the morning after pill") at pharmacies, public hospitals or health centers. You can purchase pads and tampons in grocery stores, and there is one known seller of menstrual cups in the country. There is no PrEP access but there are many STI testing sites, and there is a national HPV vaccination program in place. Finally, abortion is generally illegal and is only permitted in very specific circumstances, some of which have grey-area legal status. For this reason, there is a large underground economy of clandestine abortions. Some of these are performed in unsafe conditions, so caution should be exercised. General public opinion toward abortion has liberalized in the last decade, yet the country still remains a difficult place for women with unwanted pregnancies.

Contraception (Birth Control)

General Note: There are many types of contraceptives, also known as "birth control," including IUDs, oral contraceptives, patches, shots, and condoms, etc. If you would like to view a full list, click here.

Laws & Social Stigmas

In Argentina, contraception is legal and widely available. It is estimated that about 61% of Argentine woman use some form of modern contraception, and that 40% are on birth control pills. However, there are still barriers for many Argentine women. In 2005, Human Rights Watch reported the following: "Decisions about contraception and abortion are difficult, deeply personal, and sometimes wrenching. In Argentina, women are routinely prevented from making such decisions. Despite important advances in the area of women's political participation and economic independence, doctors and spouses continue to exercise control over women's reproductive health through laws and policies that subject female decision-making to arbitrary extraneous interference."

What to Get & Where to Get It

Yasmin pills purchased in Argentina

Yasmin pills purchased in Argentina

• You can buy condoms at pharmacies for AR$10-$30 (three-pack) or up to AR$67 (12-pack).
• If you would like to get birth control pills ("pastillas anticonceptivas" in Spanish), they can be purchased in pharmacies without a prescription for about AR$30-$120. Farmacity is a popular pharmacy chain. Some brands you can expect to see are Ovrette, Microlut, Microval, Duoluton, Eugynon, Neogynon, Nordiol, Ovral, Microgynon, Microvlar, Nordette, Miranova. To see which pills are available in Argentina, check out Alfabeta or Kairos. Please note that Argentina has strict importation laws, so be careful to NOT bring in any birth control pills that aren't permitted in Argentina.
• If you're interested in the ring (like Nuvaring), you can get it at Farmacity for AR$240.
• If you want an IUD, you can get the IUD insertion at a hospital or health center. While you can get it done at a public hospital, you'll find that only non-hormonal IUDs are available. The last for 10 years. if you want the hormonal IUDs, which last for 5 years, you'll need to go to a private hospital. For Mirena, it's about $1700 pesos. The copper IUD (not industria argentina) costs around $500-700 pesos.
• If you want the implant ("implante" or "anticonceptivo subcutáneo" in Spanish), this has been available in Argentina since 2012.
• If you're interested in the patch ("parche" in Spanish), you can get it a pharmacies, like Farmacity. It's not covered by the public health system, so expect to pay around AR$150-$200.

Emergency Contraception (Morning After Pill)

Important Notes: Emergency contraception may prevent pregnancy for three days (72 hours) and sometimes five days (120 hours) after unprotected sex. Take EC as soon as possible after unprotected sex. If you don't have access to dedicated EC, oral contraceptives can be used as replacement EC, but remember the following: 1) Only some contraceptives work as EC 2) Different contraceptives require different dosages and time schedules to work as EC 3) You must only use the first 21 pills in 28-day packs and 4) They may be less effective than dedicated EC. For general information on emergency contraceptives, click here and here. Copper IUDs may also prevent pregnancy up to 5 days after unprotected sex.

Laws & Social Stigmas

Emergency contraception is legal and can be accessed without a prescription.

What to Get & Where to Get It

In Buenos Aires, you can obtain emergency contraception (also known as "the morning after pill"). In Spanish, it's called "anticoncepción hormonal de emergencia." You can get EC at public hospitals or health centers for free (for 24 hours/day) after a medical consultation. You can also visit a pharmacy, like Farmacity (many of them are open 24 hours), and purchase EC. There are no age restrictions.

• Some of the dedicated emergency contraception brands you can expect to find in pharmacies are Norgestrel Max Unidosis, Postinor 1 and Segurite UD (for all of these, take 1 pill within 120 hours after unprotected sex). You can also find Norgestrel-Max, Ovulol and Postinor-2 (for all of these, take 2 pills within 120 hours after unprotected sex).
• If you can't access dedicated emergency contraception, you can use oral contraceptive (regular birth control pills) as emergency contraception. For progestin-only pills, you can take Ovrette (take 40 pills within 120 hours after unprotected sex). You can also take Microlut or Micronova (take 50 pills within 120 hours after unprotected sex). For combined progestin-estrogen pills, remember that, in 28-day packs, only the first 21 pills can be used. Of these, you can take Duoluton, Eugynon, Neogynon, Nordiol or Ovral (take 2 pills within 120 hours after unprotected sex and take 2 more pills 12 hours later). You can take Microgynon, Microvlar or Nordette (take 4 pills within 120 hours after unprotected sex and take 4 more pills 12 hours later). You can also take Miranova (take 5 pills within 120 hours after unprotected sex and take 5 more pills 12 hours later).

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs/STDs)

Important Notes - Learn about PEP and PrEP: If you think that you've been recently exposed to HIV (i.e. within 72 hours), seek out PEP (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis). It's a month-long treatment to prevent HIV infection after exposure, and it may be available in your city. Take PEP as soon as possible. For more information, click here. If you are at risk of HIV exposure, seek out PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis). It's a daily oral pill that can prevent HIV infection before exposure. To learn more about PrEP, click here.

Laws & Social Stigmas

You can enter the country if you're HIV+. There are no travel restrictions applied to anyone with STIs. However, according to the National AIDS Law No 23.798, all immigrants are required to take HIV tests.

What to Get & Where to Get It

Testing Facilities

• You can get tested at tons of public hospitals in Argetina. The wait times will be longer but costs will be very low, and potentially free. For the full list, click here.
• If you would like to get tested at a private facility, the costs will be higher. But the wait times will be faster and facilities will generally be nicer:

Support

• Fundación Huesped: Focuses on sexual and reproductive rights and helping people with HIV. Operating since 1989.
• Fundación para Estudio e Investigación de la Mujer: Focuses on helping women and health programs; organizes conferences.
• FUNDAMIND: Offers job assistance, education, etc. Helps kids with HIV.
• UNAIDS Argentina: "The goal of UNAIDS is to lead and inspire the world in Getting to zero: zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-deaths." Alberto Stella, UNAIDS Country Director, Telephone: + 54 11 4328 4365. Fax: + 54 11 4328 2253, Email: STELLAA@UNAIDS.ORG.

Medications & Vaccines

What to Get & Where to Get It

• There has been a national HPV vaccination program in Argentina since 2011. The target age for vaccination is 11 years old, and it was estimated that 50% of the target population was vaccinated in 2013.
• There is currently no official PrEP program in Argentina.

Menstruation

Note: In addition to pads and tampons, you can also use menstrual cups and menstrual underwear for your period. To learn more about menstrual cups, click here. To learn more about menstrual underwear, click here.

What to Get & Where to Get It

In Buenos Aires, you can find pads, tampons and pantyliners. Pads are the easiest to find in supermarkets, pharmacies and corner stores. You can purchase tampons in Argentina; they'll typically be non-applicator brands, like OB. If you want a menstrual cup, you can buy a MoonCup at COPA ECOLÓGICA (Tomás Le Bretón 4933 Villa Urquiza Buenos Aires, Capital Federal 1431 Argentina (011) - 11564171648). For DivaCup, LadyCup or Lunette, you'll need to buy them online since there are no local sellers in Argentina.

Gynecological Exams

What to Get & Where to Get It

• For recommended gynecologists in Buenos Aires, visit the Buenos Aires page

Pregnancy

What to Get & Where to Get It

• For recommended obstetricians and gynecologists in Buenos Aires, visit the Buenos Aires page

Abortion

Important Note: There are two main types of abortions: medical (also known as the "abortion pill") and surgical (also known as "in-clinic"). For medical abortions, you take a pill to induce abortion. For surgical abortions, a procedure is performed to induce abortion. For general information about medical and surgical abortions, click here.

Laws & Social Stigmas

In Argentina, abortion is generally not permitted. It is only completely legal in certain circumstances, which include: to save the life of the woman, to protect physical health, and in cases of rape. It should be noted that the Ministry of Health has not formally ratified protocols that permit abortions in cases of rape, so the legality is debatable, yet it appears to be fully decriminalized. For all other reasons, including risk of fetal impairment, economic or social reasons, or availability upon request, are prohibited. According to the Pact of San Jose (1994), the right to life begins "in general, from the moment of conception." While some Argentine politicians have expressed interest in changing the abortion laws in the past, the Catholic Church has played a strong role in Argentine society, and no politicians have successfully gone forth with these plans.

The penalty for an illegal abortion is up to four years in prison for the person who performed the abortion. However, in order to penalize the physician, the police must actually find a person performing an illegal abortion. This makes the prosecution rather difficult. There are reports of police wire-tapping the phones of at least one abortion clinic in order to prosecute the physicians.

For many years, Argentine abortion laws only permitted abortion in cases when the woman's life was endangered. In March 2012, the provisions were expanded after a landmark case, in which the Supreme Court allowed a 15-year old who was raped by stepfather to obtain an abortion. As a result, the Supreme Court ruled that abortion in cases of rape should be criminalized, and they ruled that a sworn affidavit confirming the rape would be enough to allow the abortion. There has not been a formal discussion of revision of abortion laws in Argentine political life. However, it appears that public opinion is gradually changing. In 2003, a poll found that 30% of Argentines thought abortion should be permitted "regardless of situation," 47% thought it should be permitted "under certain circumstances" and 23% thought that abortion should never be permitted. Later, in September 2011, the same poll that 45% of Argentines thought abortion should be permitted for any reason.

It is estimated that half a million abortions happen in Argentina each year, which would be 40% of all pregnancies. Unfortunately, many of these clandestine abortions are performed in unsafe conditions or by unqualified personnel. The number one cause for maternal mortality rates in Argentina is unsafe abortions, which is estimated to be about to 31% of maternal deaths.

As stated in a 2005 Human Rights Watch Report on abortion in Argentina, "The criminalization of abortion leads women to take desperate measures, such as attempting to abort with knitting needles, rubber tubes, parsley sprigs, or the use of abortive medicines without adequate medical assistance. It also enables clandestine abortion “clinics” to operate with little regard for women’s health and lives. When women hemorrhaging or suffering from life-threatening infections or injuries caused by botched abortions show up at public hospitals, health care personnel sometimes scorn them and deny them treatment. Doctors performing post-abortion curettage—the highly painful scraping of a woman’s uterus with a sharp instrument—sometimes do so without anesthesia. Women who fear criminal proceedings are discouraged from seeking necessary post-abortion care, often to the serious detriment of their health. Some women who have had abortions are sentenced to prison, in a further assault on their human rights."

There have also been reported difficulties for women seeking abortions, due to the fears expressed by physicians. As reported in Argentina Independent, "For poor women, public hospitals are often the only available option. Yet frequently, fear of legal repercussions, or a personal moral stance, leads health professionals in public hospitals to demand judicial authorisation before agreeing to terminate the pregnancy, despite the fact that it is not required by law. For their part, some judges likewise refuse to authorise the practice, arguing that they only have a role once the abortion has already been performed."

What to Get & Where to Get It

• There are clandestine providers of abortion in Buenos Aires. You may want to consult a physician you trust for details.
• You can potentially purchase the "abortion pill" through Women on Waves. Check out their website for details.
• In Argentina, there is a abortion hotline for women who have unwanted pregnancies: Tel: (011) 156 664 7070
• There is a Sexual Health Helpline that you can consult for information: Tel: 0800-222-3444 (toll-free)

Costs

There were reports of relatively "safe" abortions being performed for around 1500 pesos in 2007 -- and, while the prices have surely gone up since 2007, it's hard to verify the current prices. However, some abortion providers supposedly charge 20,000-40,000 pesos as of 2015.

List of Additional Resources

• Asociacion Civil La Casa Del Encuentro: Focuses on women’s social networks. Lobbies for policies to combat all forms of violence, abuse and discrimination against women and children. Address: 1204 De, Rivadavia 3917, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Phone: +54 11 4982-2550