Argentine Supreme Court OKs abortions after rapes
Mar 13, 2012, 8:03 PM
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) – Argentina’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday that any rape victim can get an abortion, setting a historic precedent in a country where abortions are generally illegal.
Until now, it had been up to a judge to decide which rape victims could get abortions, and generally only women with mental disabilities were approved. In several well-publicized cases, even young girls who had been raped were forced to carry out their pregnancies.
The Supreme Court now says no rape victim can be punished for terminating a pregnancy. And those women no longer need a court order. All they need to provide to a doctor is a sworn declaration that they were raped.
The Roman Catholic Church condemned the ruling, saying abortions are wrong even in the event of a rape.
Argentine women whose lives are endangered by pregnancy also are permitted to have abortions.
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