‘The stigma has returned’: abortion access in turmoil in Javier Milei’s Argentina
Javier Milei’s anti-abortion rhetoric has prompted growing numbers of doctors in Argentina to refuse to carry out terminations, according to medical professionals across the country.
Since taking office in December, the self-described libertarian has used speeches to both global leaders and schoolchildren to condemn abortion as a “tragedy” and “aggravated murder”.
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Health workers say such statements have already encouraged healthcare providers to refuse to provide abortion services due to their personal beliefs, and warn they could push women to use clandestine methods instead.
At one hospital in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, Julieta Bazán, a physician, said Milei’s comments have caused a spike in the number of doctors refusing to provide abortions.
“It is having a very negative impact,” Bazán said. “Stigma among professionals has increased – they fear being part of abortion teams.”
In Tucumán, in the north of the country, health professionals said they were preparing for an increase in clandestine abortions.
“Women are asking not to use their names, or refusing to give identity numbers to access abortions. They fear where their data is going to be stored – that didn’t used to happen,” said Ivana Romero, an abortion counsellor. “Some don’t want to go to the hospital. We’re worried about a comeback in unsafe abortions.”
Verónica Gago, a researcher and member of the feminist movement #NiUnaMenos, said that while Milei had not yet initiated plans to reverse abortion access, his public health cuts were affecting the availability of abortion pills. His first “mega-decree” of draft legislation removed price caps and controls from drug prices.
“We’re getting reports that, because of his budget cuts, some hospitals are not giving out abortion drugs,” said Gago. “Milei’s discourse, coupled with cutting the public budgets, are trying to de-legitimise abortion rights.”
Until Argentina legalised abortion in 2020 after sweeping protests, the procedure was only permitted in cases of rape or if the woman’s health was at risk.
On his campaign trail, Milei said that pro-choice Argentines are “brainwashed by a homicidal policy” and vowed to launch a referendum to overturn the abortion law. Since the election his rhetoric has not calmed down.
Earlier this month, the president told an auditorium of schoolchildren that abortion should be considered “aggravated murder” due to the “familial bond” between a mother and a foetus.
During his address to the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, Milei told world leaders that abortion is a “tragedy”.
The abortion counselling service Fundación Mujeres por Mujeres, which operates in Tucumán, said it had seen a 42% increase in women seeking advice, when comparing February 2024 against February 2023. It said many of the women had read misinformation online that abortion is now illegal, or had been told so by doctors.
“In the last four months, a lot of women have been wrongly informed that they cannot have an abortion by doctors and nurses,” said Florencia Sabaté, a spokesperson for the organisation. “The women say they are afraid. They think they have no choice now.”
She added: “The stigma has returned.”
“Since Milei won, we have seen – for the first time – women knocking on our doors, asking if they are allowed to have an abortion. They do it with shame, fearing their doctors, fearing their family,” Sabate said.
The NGO is now restructuring itself, and from April will begin visiting communities with a lawyer to promote the fact that abortions are still legal. “It’s like an earthquake – suddenly we have no structures to work with,” Sabaté said. “We have to go back to the basics.”
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The National Campaign of the Right to Legal Abortion also said it was “ready to fight back”. “Decades of struggle to put the right to safe abortion on the political agenda haven’t been in vain,” a spokesperson said.
But questions remain about whether the self-described anarcho-capitalist will follow through with his agenda.
In February, Rocío Bonacci, a member of Milei’s party, sparked controversy when she filed a bill in Congress seeking to repeal the existing abortion law. The bill fell flat, with the presidential spokesperson saying it was not “on the president’s agenda”.
“It was a provocation, they just wanted to scandalise,” said Gago.
Political analysts say that Milei has greater problems to contend with right now, with inflation soaring to over 250% and poverty nearing 60%. Initiating a referendum would also risk creating conflict with his political allies considered vital to him achieving his economic agenda, some experts said.
“Milei is a populist, which means that he may use this kind of debate to create an internal enemy or keep the public away from the economic situation,” said Julio Montero, an associate professor in political theory at the University of San Andrés.
Paula Avila-Guillen, a human rights lawyer and executive director of the Women’s Equality Center, agreed.
“Abortion and women’s rights are always used as a distraction, unfortunately,” she said. “The moment Milei can’t fix the economy, the first thing he is going to do is talk about abortion, because then the attention from the press and social media will go there – it is something we see very often, everywhere.”