WUNRN
Human Rights Watch
ARGENTINA - PROTECTING WOMEN FROM
UNSAFE ABORTIONS
April 13, 2011
I ended my speech with a statistic. "Forty percent of pregnancies in this country end in abortion," I said. "Logically, this means every person in this room knows at least one person who had at least one abortion. I am certain that these women and girls - your sisters, daughters, mothers, and friends - did not make this decision lightly." The room went silent.
In 2008, unsafe abortions caused more than 20
percent of deaths in
As told by Marianne Mollmann, Advocacy Director
for the Women's Rights Division , Human Rights Watch
I sat at the table and smiled at the room full of
The room was packed. Rows of people sat behind cramped tables, and people
standing in the back jockeyed for position. Journalists had been herded to the
far side of the room. Nearly everyone wore suits, except for the pro-choice
activists, who wore their signature bright green bandanas.
The lights in the front half of the room weren't working, and someone joked
about abortion being a darkened debate in
Volunteers for Campaña Nacional por el Derecho al
Aborto Legal, Seguro y Gratuito, collect signatures for a petition to legalize
abortion.
© 2010 Ethan G. Salwen
In
The chairman of the criminal law committee introduced me. He explained that
he wasn't for legalizing abortion, but had been so moved by Human Rights
Watch's two reports on reproductive rights in
I leaned forward, looked around the room, and started speaking. I talked
about women who were refused medical help at hospitals after back-alley abortions
went wrong. I reminded them that
I ended my speech with a statistic. "Forty percent of pregnancies in
this country end in abortion," I said. "Logically, this means every
person in this room knows at least one person who had at least one abortion. I
am certain that these women and girls - your sisters, daughters, mothers, and
friends - did not make this decision lightly." The room went silent.
The floor was opened to parliament members for questions.
"Why is making abortion illegal discriminatory against women without
resources?" asked one. "What happens in countries where abortions are
legal?" asked another. "Does it open the flood gates?"
I explained that poor women who rely on public health services were more
likely to have trouble accessing contraception, making them more likely to have
an unwanted pregnancy and fall victim to a botched back-alley abortion.
Legalizing abortion doesn't mean there will be fewer unwanted pregnancies, but
it does mean that the needed abortions will be safe. In 2008, unsafe abortions
caused more than 20 percent of deaths in
I added that you can lower the abortion rate by giving people access to
contraception and education.
Then one female representative asked, "What about the right to life
for the fetus?"
It was a good question. And I gave her the best answer I could - that under
international law, there is no right to life for the fetus. I acknowledged that
this argument wouldn't sway her, but that I hoped we would agree on one thing:
There should be fewer abortions in
Over the next three days, I did countless media interviews. My driver,
Alejandro, heard nearly all of them, either on the radio or phone interviews
from the car. Alejandro had a quiet dignity to him. His parents died when he
was young, and he raised his younger siblings. He put himself through law school,
although he didn't want to become a lawyer.
On my last day, I went with a journalist to record audio interviews and
take photographs at a small nonprofit that offers health services to women.
When I came out of the interviews, Alejandro was helping girls put up posters
about access to post-abortion care. I hid my surprise, remembering how
vehemently he spoke against abortion when we met. We got in the car and drove
to the airport.
When he dropped me off, Alejandro turned around and said, "Please call
me if you need anything."
"Sure," I said, thinking he wanted to drive me next time I came.
"Give me your card."
"No, I mean I really want to do something," he said. "I
never knew how it was for women. You look at the situation, and you just want
to do something. So, tell me what I can do to make this better."
I reached out and shook his hand, and took his contact information.
Alejandro's change of heart reinforced my belief that we can help protect women
by showing how the lack of choice impacts their lives. I was crying when I went
into the terminal.