‘WE DID IT, SISTERS’

Argentina, the Homeland of Pope Francis, Finally Legalizes Abortion

The new law will allow women to end pregnancies for any reason up to 14 weeks and, after that, there will be exceptions allowed for rape and a woman’s health.

Argentina has become the latest—and largest—nation in South America to legalize abortion after its senate approved the historic law change by a wider-than-expected margin of 38 votes to 29. The law will allow women to end pregnancies for any reason up to 14 weeks and, after that, there will be exceptions allowed for rape and a woman’s health. It’s a landmark victory for the South American nation’s growing feminist movement over the once-dominant Roman Catholic Church. It’s particularly symbolic as Argentina is the homeland of Pope Francis, who had repeatedly voiced his opposition to the bill, but was ultimately ignored. “Legalizing abortion in Argentina is a gigantic victory that protects fundamental rights and will inspire change in Latin America,” Tamara Taraciuk Broner, the Americas deputy director for Human Rights Watch, told The New York Times.