Hundreds of thousands of Argentinians had campaigned to completely decriminalize abortion in the predominantly Catholic country. Abortion is currently allowed if the mother has been raped or her health is at risk.
Argentine senators voted against legalizing abortion in all cases on Thursday, just weeks after the bill was passed by the lower house of Congress in June by the narrowest of margins.
The Senate voted 38 to 31 against the proposed measure.
The vote came as a major setback to the hundreds of thousands of pro-choice advocates who ran an aggressive campaign against strong opposition from the highly influential Catholic Church in the homeland of Pope Francis.
The Health Ministry estimated in 2016 that as many as half a million clandestine abortions are performed in the country each year, causing the deaths of dozens of women.
Read more: Opinion: Argentina’s women will fight on
The result was welcomed by fireworks and shouts of joy among anti-abortion activists gathered outside of Congress.
But at the other end of the square, tears streamed down the faces of pro-abortion advocates, with many wearing the green scarves that symbolize their cause. A handful of demonstrators started fires and threw stones as they clashed with riot police.
The Catholic Church held masses during the Senate’s vote and had called on Catholics to protest against abortion.
Earlier, Pope Francis said the deliberate termination of pregnancy was “an atrocity” and compared it with Nazism.
For more read the full of article at The Dw
