THOUSANDS of women, many sporting the green scarves that have become a symbol of Argentina’s abortion rights movement, rallied in Buenos Aires yesterday to campaign for a new bill to legalise the procedure.

Two years after a similar bill was narrowly defeated by lawmakers in the conservative South American country, activists have been buoyed by recent pledges by leftist President Alberto Fernandez to prioritise a new bill.

“We are here to fight for this law to come out this year,” psychologist Antonella D’Alessio told AFP.

“An unwanted pregnancy is synonymous with torture.”

The rally called by feminist groups was held in front of Congress, where, in June 2018, a bill to legalise abortion was approved by the lower house, only to be defeated by conservatives in the Senate amid pressure from the Roman Catholic Church.

Natalia Lissarrague, a 38-year-old nurse, said legalising abortion “is important because it gives everyone the possibility of accessing an abortion in hospital with all the necessary techniques, and not dying in hiding”.

She attended the rally with her daughters, aged 5 and 12.

Reiterating a campaign promise, Fernandez earlier this month said he would propose a law to “end the penalisation of abortion” and allow anyone seeking an abortion to receive care at public health centres.

Liberals won ground in the Senate in last November’s elections, renewing activists’ hopes that any new abortion bill will now be approved in the once-staunchly conservative chamber.

Conservatives are expected to fight the issue tooth and nail, however, in a battle that is likely to mirror the bitter divisions of the last campaign.

The Catholic Church in Argentina has called an anti-abortion rally on March 8 to coincide with International Women’s Day.

In Pope Francis’ homeland, abortion is punishable by up to four years in prison, and allowable only in cases of rape or if there is a risk to the life of the mother. – AFP, February 20, 2020.