Page 12, Friday December 31 2010 2010
BALANCE IS A RIGHT TO DECIDE
Although the end of the regular sessions opened the discussion on abortion in the legislative , 2010 also was the year that a decision at the ministerial level to ensure the non-punishable abortions has lost its status as such thanks to conservative pressure and the media denounced it as a covert decriminalization. The truth is that women are still discriminated against in ensuring autonomy over their own bodies and that discrimination costs lives among the most vulnerable. Looking to 2011, a balance of the proceedings and the hope of things to come.
By Liliana Viola
"MARRIAGE VERSUS ABORTION?
For some curious reason, before the idea of \u200b\u200ban assessment of progress or setbacks in the legalization of abortion appear immediately referred to the Equal Marriage Act. "There goes the Divorce Act, the Equal Marriage Act, we are discussing the decriminalization of abortion and the church is on fire," said the Los Andes in those days. "He left the law that seemed impossible, but abortion will not go so easy. Gave this dislike to the Church because are not willing to give the other. Abortion in this country will not ever leave. "
Oscillating between those who consider it a step that paves the way towards a fairer society, and who understand that the first was an excuse to leave in the oblivion of the other progressive agenda The connection between these two claims not only shares the disapproval and anger of conservatives. There is something else. The curious reason that unites them, and that in recent months has been installed in the debate, argumentative breaking the monopoly of the dilemma of when life begins, when a person is born, is related to the concept of discrimination. And if something was evident during the marriage debate was that most of this society is not willing to endorse, at least law-the dehumanization of a portion of its citizens, for the moment as far as gender concerns. Against this, staggers drafted legislation for nearly a century as criminals by pointing to those who interrupt their pregnancy conviction to a part of the population to bring your body into hiding and death. "Official figures show that 40 percent of pregnancies end in abortions Argentina. Logically, this means that each of you in this room knows at least one woman who has had at least one abortion. "So said in the National Congress last November Marianne Mollmann (representative of the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch) when she opened the only parliamentary debate on abortion is not punishable to the Criminal Law Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, what can be considered a point no less than the balance. What would fail to add to the words of this expert is that those who know a woman who has used at least one abortion, if we are middle or upper class, we will know how difficult their decision, their fears, the moment humiliating search minimally a reliable doctor, the highest amount have been paid. (The penalty also allows "clinics" clandestine work with little regard to health and life of women.) But the woman who we are or know, to date, not been killed by it. Now, if you do not belong to that strip off, sure you also know one or more women who have abortions, except that this friend, sister or mother will most likely have been sterile or with serious lifelong complications. Or be dead.
In Argentina, abortion is the leading cause of maternal death. 11 percent of American women who die from pregnancy-related causes die from an illegal abortion, in our country this figure is doubled. The only other two countries in the region where abortions are the leading cause of maternal death are Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago (according to the Center for the Study of State and Society in Argentina).
point linking the claims of equal marriage and the decriminalization of abortion is equality before the law, the claim by setting aside a part of society, which in this case in point is women. Poor women. The point has become a crossroads marked by poverty, where the market ends up dialing rules that separate private beneficiaries of public survivors, while the moral slogan looks away when he defends life. "When a woman reaches a hospital complications of having an abortion, it is often treated badly, as a matter of stigma, "says Mariana Romero, Cedes. According to the Ministry of Health of the Nation, in 2008 more than 20 percent of recorded obstetric deaths were caused by unsafe abortions. And according to new figures on maternal mortality, last year the proportion of maternal deaths attributable to abortion was 28 percent. Mortality increased by 10 percent instead of decreasing, as would have happened if they had fulfilled the goals of the Millennium Goals, set in 2000.
The debate over the civil marriage law instituted in the public taste for dialogue and the relevance of science-based arguments and all updated. He remained interested in the historical debate to mainstream audiences beyond that want to marry or not allowed to make the case more conservative, more heinous and more convincing. So beyond the strategies taken to overcome the political pressures, the fact is that the exercise of discussion and fosters released an issue like this can be discussed in 2011 in terms of public health, human rights and discrimination by gender. "When we look at public health reasons and the number of women who die each day for septic abortions, those considerations tilt the balance. Even if we leave aside these unfortunate consequences, an analysis of whether to ban or allow abortion, at least during the first weeks of pregnancy, changes the focus of the discussion, because permissive legislation does not force women to abort against their will. But restrictive legislation forcing women to continue a pregnancy, violating their will, "says Diana Agrest Cohen, author of a book What do you think those who think like me, he analyzes the abortion and gay marriage among other issues, from a bioethical perspective.
PAST AND FUTURE
Martha Rosenberg, psychoanalyst and member of the National Campaign for the Right to Abortion Legal, Safe and Free
Argentine Penal Code was enacted in the nineteenth century, years before and years later, abortion was considered by our laws as a crime. During the first two decades of the twentieth century did not admit even special justification, in 1919 introduced new forms of impunity grasping the Swiss Penal Code, although with drafting errors that led to the present a place for doctrinal discussion. The present wording is practically the same as the 1922 Code. If the legislation is aged, the debate is not new. For contributions in the 90 project by Mrs Florentina Gómez Miranda, who put in the public debate the situation of women raped, we add numerous projects over the last decade. But the milestone comes in March this year, when he presented to Congress the draft of the National Campaign for the Right to Abortion Legal, Safe and Free, with about 50 signatures from lawmakers in a vast political spectrum ranging from the ruling to the PRO, to CC, GEN, Project South, New Meeting, UCR, and the Socialist Party, among other blocks. The bill establishes the right of every woman to voluntarily terminate a pregnancy within the first 12 weeks of gestational process and rules that must be ensured free of charge in public health services. Social work, and insurance should cover it.
What is your reading on the arrival of the abortion issue to the Legislature?
"First we must say that abortion came to the Legislature in a very precarious, because it was the last day of regular sessions with a meeting in November, was not even a public hearing, but was a day of discussion, not is a set of standard procedures for treating a subject but an invitation to a public conference with an expert and internationally recognized (Marianne Mollmann). Attended by many legislators, was important in this regard because it marked a move by the committee head of this project, which is the first that has to deal, and a public commitment by Mr Juan Carlos Vega and other deputies present, but it is he who has the initiative to actually concerned in the commission He pledged that they were in 2011 and the request was handled at the beginning of the year with priority.
does not seem very convinced that the issue concerned the coming year.
Well, he said he will try, but keep in mind that there was already a commitment in 2010 and was postponed until it was approached in this way. I also believe that parliamentarians were pronouncements of other committees, and this would be very auspicious start early in the year with a combined treatment of the three committees involved.
Do you think in the last year public opinion has shown a higher sensitivity compared to this?
"Over the past year has been increasing constantly in the public opinion polls favorable to the expansion of legal abortion. In one of them was that 62 percent of the public did not agree with that penalize women who undergo abortion. And there were important institutional pronouncements in http://www.abortolegal.com.ar/ you can see the universities and institutions that adhered to the theme and in many cases joined the project in the campaign. And Amnesty also commented on the very urgent need that this issue concerned by the socio-medical indicators of deaths of women from pregnancy.
You have a hypothesis about why we still have no concrete data about deaths from illegal abortions?
"The Church and the medical profession do a lot of pressure, even in anonymous surveys that physicians recognize the importance of the topic. Therefore, the demand for state intervention is very important, for example the issue of regulation of non-punishable abortions, which was the subject of some tremendous ups and downs during 2010. Regulation made by the Ministry of Health is in effect but has no ministerial resolution range. Then balance that against the offer, it should be noted that there were many hesitations on the subject of abortion commitments reactionary sectors of power, right and also by a conception of the Government to rule that can be applied to personal religious convictions as conduct standards for all people.
How so?
"If our country is freedom of worship, this also means that there is freedom to have no religion, which is to take care of life above all things. This is especially important for the female population, which is more than half the population. And this is an issue that affects more severely the poor, with less access to education and less access to health services. And I must say that although our population is largely Catholic, women who practice abortion also are Catholic. Current legislation is ineffective on abortions performed in fact all it does is make clandestine and illegal, put women in a situation of obvious disability.
Why do you think that every time raises the debate is in terms of for or against abortion, as if this were really the choice? "Because
playing a very important power on a fundamental aspect of life in society, which is the replacement of generations, and the most reactionary sectors of the Church and the power needed to maintain control over the process of reproduction and women who are carrying this process forward. So the idea of \u200b\u200bliberalizing the abortion laws as granting freedom to women to continue a pregnancy or not, is an idea that gives much power to women. Then there is the idea that it might open a range of legislation to enable that the law permits something, we're used to that laws prohibit or impose things, and people think that if abortion is legalized will force someone who does not want to abort. The truth is that women abort all ages and all walks of life.
How do we?
"I think we have to keep working so that people recognize that this is an issue of society, but they pay with their health and lives of young women and poor. And it definitively is a political problem.
CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE REST OF THE WORLD
Kabusacki Leticia, a specialist in family law and sexual and reproductive health, a member of ELA (Equipment Latin American Justice and Gender), an NGO informants CEDAW meeting
Among the significant events this year are without doubt the recommendations and harsh criticism of the Argentina that made after the July meeting in New York CEDAW, the UN committee in charge of monitoring compliance by States with the implementation of human rights of women. This year, the United Nations, inter alia, urged the government to "ensure" the implementation of the Guidelines for Comprehensive Care Abortions are not punishable. It was a fundamental tool for both the concerned were aware of their rights as to health workers and implement justice without hesitation and without delay the laws. This was perhaps the most anticlockwise on the subject. Returning the relationship between equal marriage anything casual and abortion law was just enacted in July when the first, when the health minister, Juan Manzur, announced that the Guide, which provides for updating the practice of abortion in rape cases with the sole requirement of an affidavit or a police report the woman was in effect. The next day he denied having signed the resolution.
What was the specific recommendation of the CEDAW in relation to reproductive rights?
"After evaluating the responses of the national and also to listen very carefully to the reports of the 10 organizations in the country's civil society we were present, CEDAW noted that Argentina should take steps to reduce the number of maternal deaths, adapt and amend its law so that women are granted the access to sexual and reproductive health. This includes the removal of barriers to performing abortions are not punishable.
Do refers to the need to amend the legislation?
"The UN Committee expressed concern about restrictive abortion legislation of Article 86 of the Penal Code and also inconsistent interpretation by the courts when it comes to abortions are not punishable. Another big caveat revolves around the lack of concrete data. No data, no gender-disaggregated statistical data, which is very important because there is no way to read the reality without it. Poverty, for example, and in relation to what we are saying, differently affect women and men. It also warns that lack measures to ensure that the provinces have equal access to health services beyond the federal system and their quality.
What is the scope with the recommendations of the CEDAW?
"The first thing to note is that this Convention, which is 20 years old, which he did from the time it was created was to highlight the rights of women which is watching are part of human rights. And that's how we read internationally, therefore, countries that do not comply are undermining these rights. Then, on the scope, we must bear in mind that once a country adopts one of these treaties, and Argentina has been one of the first Latin American countries do, "incorporates his policy plexus. That is, are constitutional. The human rights treaty that was entered is law, and all legislation in Argentina, including the provinces, must conform to this standard.
What are the benefits to a country in the form of these treaties and the damage is not complying with them?
-The benefit is to belong to a group of nations that favor development. It is an economic benefit, since there are specific programs to foster development. At the same time it is considered that a country can develop if half its population, in this case women, are at risk, too moral.
And is there some specific connection between private citizens and these laws? Can I use these international bodies such as when your country does not allow you to perform your own abortion law allows?
-Argentina in 2007 adopted the Optional Protocol to CEDAW. This makes the people affected can go directly to voice your complaint after exhaustion of domestic courts including the Supreme Court appeal. Already there are cases before the OEA Iberoamericana. In fact this happened in 2006 in the case known as "MRL international responsibility of State's attempt to breach the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights." A girl from La Plata, 19 years with intellectual disabilities had been raped by a family that denied him his right to an abortion.
"The perspective of the CEDAW report is bleak?
"It's devastating, is a strong warning to specific violations of the state, meaning the state at all authorities and public institutions such as hospitals, for example. It is documented, based on very serious and comprehensive reports. Highlights many good things in Argentina, made especially during the previous government, which laid the foundation, structure, so that the situation of women improves. This has done much to promote non-discrimination of women, among other things, created in 2004 the National Women's Council, progress was made in the regulation and the laundering of domestic workers, the Universal and Son is another and important point highlighted by the agency. What we are claiming is the implementation of any ideal structure and often without resources sufficient.
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