10,963
edits
Gynopedia needs your support! Please consider contributing content, translating a page, or making a donation today. With your support, we can sustain and expand the website. Gynopedia has no corporate sponsors or advertisers. Your support is crucial and deeply appreciated.
Buenos Aires: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
→Laws & Social Stigmas
| Line 178: | Line 178: | ||
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.<ref>[https://news.vice.com/article/argentinas-doctors-perform-half-a-million-illegal-abortions-a-year-but-legalization-still-seems-unlikely Argentina’s Doctors Perform Half a Million Illegal Abortions a Year, But Legalization Still Seems Unlikely]</ref> | 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.<ref>[https://news.vice.com/article/argentinas-doctors-perform-half-a-million-illegal-abortions-a-year-but-legalization-still-seems-unlikely Argentina’s Doctors Perform Half a Million Illegal Abortions a Year, But Legalization Still Seems Unlikely]</ref> | ||
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 | 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 formal 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.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Argentina Abortion in Argentina]</ref> | ||
It is estimated that half a million abortions happen in Argentina each year, which would be 40% of all pregnancies.<ref>[https://news.vice.com/article/argentinas-doctors-perform-half-a-million-illegal-abortions-a-year-but-legalization-still-seems-unlikely Argentina’s Doctors Perform Half a Million Illegal Abortions a Year, But Legalization Still Seems Unlikely]</ref> 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. | It is estimated that half a million abortions happen in Argentina each year, which would be 40% of all pregnancies.<ref>[https://news.vice.com/article/argentinas-doctors-perform-half-a-million-illegal-abortions-a-year-but-legalization-still-seems-unlikely Argentina’s Doctors Perform Half a Million Illegal Abortions a Year, But Legalization Still Seems Unlikely]</ref> 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. | ||
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."<ref>[http://www.argentinaindependent.com/socialissues/humanrights/abortion-in-argentina-unsafe-and-unattainable/ Abortion in Argentina: Unsafe and Unattainable]</ref> | |||
===What to Get & Where to Get It=== | ===What to Get & Where to Get It=== | ||