Members of the Argentina Senate voted Wednesday against legislation that would legalize abortions on unborn babies up to 14 weeks of age and older in some circumstances. Senators voted 38-31 against the measure while two lawmakers abstained.
Argentina currently prohibits unborn babies from being aborted except in cases of rape, severe disabilities or threats to the mother’s life.
Approved by Congress’ lower house on June 14, the bill sent to the Senate would legalize abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy and force religious hospitals to do abortions. The bill would also have legalized abortions in some cases up to birth.
Although abortion campaigners hoped to springboard off their victory legalizing abortion in Ireland to export ending the lives of unborn children to South America they failed in their effort today.
Doctors all across Argentina were fighting against the pro-abortion bill that could punish them for refusing to abort unborn babies. Hundreds of doctors recently protested the legislation after it passed the lower house in June.
About 300 hospitals and medical groups across the country announced their opposition to the legislation, in part, because of a lack of conscience protections. According to the report, private hospitals would not be allowed to opt out of aborting unborn babies under the bill.
During the protest, many doctors held signs with the message, “I’m a doctor, not a murderer.” Some said they would rather go to jail than kill unborn babies in abortions.
Click here to sign up for pro-life news alerts from LifeNews.com
Ally Bowlin, International Programs Director for Students for Life applauded the vote.
She told LifeNews, “Argentina made the right decision in voting against expanding abortion in the country, and voting to remain a pro-life country. In the United States, we have seen the effects of abortion on women, men, and families, and we strongly support all countries that realize the disastrous effects of abortion. Abortion does not help women, it harms them, and the Argentina senators who voted against legalizing abortion should be applauded for their courage in standing up to the abortion lobby.”
Argentina, like many South American countries, has been facing intense international pressure to legalize abortion. Human Rights Watch, which receives funding from American billionaire George Soros, has been pushing its abortion agenda on Argentina for years, as has Amnesty International.
The South American country has faced some of the most violent pro-abortion protests in the world. In June, radical feminists marched in Buenos Aires to demand the government legalize the killing of unborn babies. In October 2017, they staged another violent, topless protest to demand taxpayer-funded abortions and cultural acceptance of prostitution. Local news reports indicate the pro-abortion protesters threw rocks, a Molotov cocktail, bottles, tampons and feces, as well as balloons filled with paint. They also vandalized walls with messages such as “Death to the pope” and “Lesbianize yourself.”
If the legislation had been approved, Argentina would have been the first nation to legalize abortion since a historic vote in Ireland to overturn its Eighth Amendment, which provided legal protections for unborn children. The homeland of Pope Francis would be one of the only nations in South America with legalized abortion on demand.
