Argentine Senate chooses life, rejects abortion bill

The Argentine Senate on Thursday night rejected a bill to legalize elective abortion. Lawmakers debated for more than 15 hours and voted 38-31 against the measure that would have endangered the lives of unborn children during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. The decision could echo across Latin America, where the pro-life movement remains strong even as the influence of the Roman Catholic Church wanes.

For hours, thousands of people wearing green handkerchiefs in support of abortion and pro-lifers wearing light blue braved heavy rain and cold temperatures in Argentina’s winter to watch the Senate debate on large screens set up outside Congress in Buenos Aires. Pro-lifers also gathered Wednesday night at a “Mass for Life” at the Metropolitan Cathedral, the church of Pope Francis during his tenure as the archbishop of Buenos Aires. “It’s not about religious beliefs but about a humanitarian reason,” Cardinal Mario Poli, current archbishop of Buenos Aires, told churchgoers. “Caring for life is the first human right and the duty of the state.”