Elective abortion legalized in Argentina

Argentina's groundbreaking abortion law went into force Sunday under the watchful eye of women's groups and government officials, who hope to ensure its full implementation despite opposition from some conservative and church groups.

Argentina became the largest nation in Latin America to legalize elective abortion after its Senate on Dec. 30 passed a law guaranteeing the procedure up to the 14th week of pregnancy and beyond that in cases of rape or when a woman's health is at risk.

The vote was hailed as a triumph for the South American country's feminist movement that could pave the way for similar actions across the socially conservative, heavily Roman Catholic region.

Before the new legislation came into force, the only non-punishable terminations of pregnancy were in cases of rape or risk to the mother's health and up to the 12th week of pregnancy, but these were often not performed in more conservative provinces.

Sandra Vázquez, director of Casa Fusa, a health centre that has been advising women about legal abortions, welcomed the new law.

"It puts the poor and the rich, the entire population, on an equal footing to be able to access a service that is voluntary, that is legal," she said.

Abortion counsellor Virginia Braga said many of the women she advised in the past years were so determined to abort, even if that meant putting their lives at risk, given that "forced pregnancy is a situation experienced as torture".

Tamara Grinberg, 32, who had a clandestine abortion in 2012, celebrates that from now on "a woman can go to a hospital to say 'I want to have an abortion' and have support."

When she aborted those who "gave a hand" were counted. Today "there are many networks of women, which is a fight won by feminism," she said.

However, the law's supporters expect backlash including potential lawsuits from anti-abortion groups in Argentina's conservative provinces and some private health clinics potentially refusing to carry out the procedure.

Pope Francis had issued a last-minute appeal before the vote and church leaders have criticized the decision.

The Argentine Catholic Church has repudiated the law and conservative doctors' and lawyers' groups have urged resistance. Doctors and health professionals can claim conscientious objection to performing abortions, but cannot invoke the right if a pregnant woman's life or health was in danger.

A statement signed by the Consortium of Catholic Doctors, the Catholic Lawyers Corporation and other groups called on doctors and lawyers to "resist with nobility, firmness and courage the norm that legalizes the abominable crime of abortion."

The anti-abortion group Unidad Provida also urged doctors, nurses and technicians to fight for their "freedom of conscience" and promised to "accompany them in all the trials that are necessary."

Under the law, private health centers that do not have doctors willing to carry out abortions must refer women seeking abortions to clinics that will. Any public official or health authority who unjustifiably delays an abortion will be punished with imprisonment from three months to one year.

The National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortion, an umbrella group for organizations that for years fought for legal abortion, often wearing green scarves at protests, vowed to "continue monitoring compliance with the law."

Argentina, the third-largest country in Latin Americato legalise abortion, joined a list that includes Uruguay, Cuba, Guyana, French Guiana, Mexico City and the Mexican state of Oaxaca.

This step has motivated women's movements from other Latin American countries to resume their campaigns to guarantee abortion, among them El Salvador, which together with Nicaragua, Honduras and the Dominican Republic prohibit it without exceptions and punish it with jail.