Thousands of Argentine Women Relaunch Campaign for Legal Abortion

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Women in line, blindfolded and with green scarves on their necks and wrists, sang for the first time in Santiago in late 2019 the song ‘You are the Rapist’. The choreography of the feminist group Las Tesis has gone viral and has been reproduced all over the world ever since.

On Wednesday, Las Tesis headed the ‘pañuelazo’ (a demonstration with green scarves) called by the national campaign for the right to legal, safe and free abortion in Buenos Aires, with a version adapted to the Argentine reality.

The action marked the beginning of the local feminist campaign for a law that establishes deadlines for legal abortion, revoking the current rule, which punishes pregnant women who voluntarily terminate their pregnancy with up to four years in prison, except in cases of rape or risk to their health.

“Patriarchy is a judge,/ who forces us to give birth,/ and our punishment / is the violence you see./ It’s femicide./ Maternity as fate./ It’s rape./ It’s clandestine abortion,” say the lyrics adapted with the help of Argentinian author Claudia Piñeiro. “You are the rapist, you are the oppressor. Abortion will be law, abortion will be law, abortion will be law”, it goes on. Thousands of people sang it this Wednesday outside the Argentine Congress and then waved the green scarves, the symbol of those who advocate the right to abortion.

“Legal abortion is a debt of democracy. A demand of the feminist struggle that has marked the development of millions of youths in the region, who demand more rights, freedom and autonomy”, said The Campaign in a statement, which includes more than 700 feminist organizations, women and sexual differences.

“Surviving an abortion is a class privilege”, “Forcing to give birth is torture”, “Right to decide”, “Much ‘close your legs’, little ‘put your penises away”, read on some of the posters raised by women, mostly young people, who gathered in the square. The protests were repeated in dozens of Argentine cities, such as Cordoba, Rosario, Mendoza, Santa Fe and Formosa.

“This is a crucial year. We know it will be law, the question is when. We are here to put pressure, because the lives of women and pregnant bodies are at stake,” says author Dolores Reyes, who went to Buenos Aires with one of her daughters. “The statements of the president (Alberto Fernández, in favor of legal abortion) help, but they are not enough. Congress has to vote,” adds the author of Cometierra, a novel crossed by femicides in Argentina.

“In Argentina, rights are won in the street. In 2020 abortion will be law,” Juana and María, two hopeful high-school students say almost in unison with the prospect of reopening the legislative debate and voting again.

The government is completing a bill for the legalization of abortion to be submitted by Fernández at the opening of the next legislature on March 1st. “In Argentina abortion is a crime. What is the problem? That every abortion becomes clandestine, and in illegality the risk to life and health of women increases. The problem is more acute according to the social class of those who practice abortion. I will be sending a law that puts an end to the penalty of abortion and allows for any abortion in any public center,” Fernández said to university students in France.

This is the first time in the history of Argentina that an incumbent president endorses the voluntary termination of pregnancy. Nevertheless, the passage of the law lies in the hands of both legislative houses. In 2018, the Chamber of Deputies approved the legalization bill, but Congress barred the reform, leaving the country with the current legislation, which dates back to 1921.

Congress was partially renewed in October’s general elections, but many of the elected legislators have yet to speak out on the matter, so it is unclear whether there are enough votes to change the result from two years ago.

The conservative sectors have made it clear that they will fight, and there will be two major opposing demonstrations on March 8th. In Buenos Aires, the march for International Women’s Day will once again feature legal abortion as one of its top flags.

Meanwhile, outside the Luján Basilica, the most important in the country in the south of Buenos Aires, the Argentine Catholic Church will celebrate a mass in defense of the unborn child and against allowing mothers to terminate their pregnancy.