Abortion Non-Rights in Argentina

I was chatting with this gal who works at my program about working in public health and what I'm hoping to do blah blah blah and I was stunned to learn that here in Argentina abortions are illegal except in very rare situations.  Hearing this was clearly really troubling to me and I felt like I needed MORE information on what exactly is going on here around reproductive rights. Here's a section from Wikipedia that kinda sums up the laws around abortion specifically:

Abortion in Argentina is strictly limited by law. As of 2008, the Argentine Penal Code establishes severe sanctions for those who cause abortion, either willingly or not, and for women who consent to it, and special punishments for physicians and other healthcare agents. 

In Argentina, abortion is illegal in every case, but it is considered "not punishable" in certain circumstances:

1. If it is performed in order to avoid harm to the woman's life or health, as long as there are no other means to avoid such harm. ("Health" has been interpreted, lately, to include mental as well as physical health, in Buenos Aires Province.)
2. If the pregnancy was the result of rape in a mentally incapable woman (in which case the procedure needs the consent of her legal representative).

Of course this leads to more questions.... what do they mean by a threat to health? who decides if a pregnancy is a threat to your health physically or psychologically? does anyone ever actually qualify? are there even doctors who will preform abortions? Here's a little more Wikipedia info for those who are interested:

It is often the case that women who may have sought an abortion under the legal provisions of the Penal Code are not appropriately (or at all) informed of this possibility by the attending physicians, or are subject to long delays when they request a legal abortion. Physicians, due to lack of knowledge of the law and fearing legal punishment, often demand that the patient or her family request judicial authorization before terminating a pregnancy, which sometimes can extend the wait beyond the time when it is advisable to abort.

From here things start to vary province by province 

In Buenos Aires:

In March 2007, Buenos Aires Province health authorities released a protocol addressing the provision of legal abortion procedures without delays or need for judicial authorization. The main change regarding previous treatments of abortion was the explicit recognition that any case of rape can be a threat to the psychic health of the victim and thus justify an abortion request.

In Santa Fe Province:

In June 2007, the legislative body of Rosario, Santa Fe Province, adopted a protocol similar to that of Buenos Aires. Physicians assisting a woman covered by Article 86 of the Penal Code are obligated to explain her condition to the patient, offering the choice of terminating the pregnancy, as well as counseling before and after the abortion. The protocol explicitly forbids the judicialization of the procedure and warns that physicians who delay a legal abortion are liable to administrative sanctions and civil or penal prosecution. 

I'm not quite clear on what's going on in other parts of the country, but my understanding is that everything is decided based on the personal beliefs of whoever is given the power to make the decision if a woman can have a legal (and safe) abortion.  Wikipedia has outlined a few recent cases to give you an understanding of exactly how things go down and if you are interested go to this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Argentina

What's really crazy is that even in the cases where women are granted the privilege to terminate their pregnancy, many many doctors refuse to do sp.  So women are STILL forced to have an unsanitary "back alley" abortion if they want to terminate their pregnancy. 

As predictable by anyone with the ability to think here are some of the ramifications of not having legal abortions as an option for everyone:

1. Abortion complications are the leading cause of maternal mortality in Argentina (30% of the total, around 100 annual deaths). Many failed abortion attempts and deaths due to them are not recorded as such and/or are not notified to the authorities.
2. Around 80,000 patients per year are hospitalized due to post-abortion complications (and must face legal punishment). Many failed abortion attempts and deaths due to them are not recorded as such and/or are not notified to the authorities.

All this information is firing me up even more to get involved in prevention education in some capacity down here.  I'm not sure how I'm going to make that happen but "where there's a will there's a way" right?  

Prevention education is unbelievable important anywhere in the world for a laundry list of reasons.  However in a location such at Argentina, where if you get get pregnant you have VERY limited choices, prevention education is just that much more crucial! I'm not very well versed in the "foster care" or adoption system here, however from what I do know, if you are at the lower socio-economic side of society and you get pregnant and don't want to be or want to give the baby up, things look pretty fucking grim. 

I just signed a petition to send to the US Congress asking them to reserve at least $1 billion for international family planning that I encourage all of those who believe in this issue to sign.  http://www.amplifyyourvoice.org/main.cfm?s=amplify