Abortion allowed in Argentina - under special circumstances

i posted yesterday on argentina's version of u.s. religious wingnuttery... it looks like a higher court thinks otherwise...

Justices Aída Kemelmajer de Carlucci and Claudio Romano ruled that it is up to doctors to decide whether the case falls within the two exceptions whereby the Penal Code permits an abortion, that is, when pregnancy results from the rape of a mentally impaired woman, or when there is a serious risk to the life of the mother.

This was the second such ruling in less than a month after the Buenos Aires provincial Supreme Court also allowed an abortion on a mentally disabled victim of rape. But by the time of the ruling doctors refused to perform the abortion, alleging that the pregnancy was too advanced. The woman’s family said it would take care of the child.

the strict anti-abortion laws here make the doc afraid to perform an abortion even when it's legal but there's still no reason for the courts to intervene when it's clear under the law that it's permissible...

Illegal abortion is sanctioned with prison terms of between three to 10 years for those performing it and up to 15 years if it results in the death of the mother, and with medical disqualification for a period double to that of the sentence.

the fact that abortion is allowed under any circumstances in a catholic country in latin america is a cause of great consternation to the catholic church... to give you an idea of just how intense the catholic environment here has been, until recently, being a catholic was a requirement to hold the office of president...

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