The Senate begins on Monday the treatment in committee of the project to legalize abortion

The ruling party has a quorum and an absolute majority in all these committees, so it is expected that the ruling will be easily achieved. The intention, from there, is to let the Christmas week pass and take the project to the site on Tuesday, December 29.

In principle, on Monday, from 2:00 p.m., the commissions were summoned to hear the opinions of the minister Health, Ginés González García ; of the Minister of Women, Gender and Diversity, Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta ; and from the Legal and Technical Secretary of the Presidency, Vilma Ibarra.

The bill obtained half a sanction this Friday in the Lower House by 131 votes in favor, 117 against and six abstentions: a wider margin than the that it obtained when it was approved in 2018. That time, the file collided with the refusal of the Senate, which rejected it 38 to 31, with two abstentions and one absent.

From the Frente de Todos there is moderate optimism because the project can pass the filter of the upper house, although the spokesmen do not want to generate false expectations or give the names of some legislators who could review their vote in 2018.

Among the undecided are pro-government officials, but also opponents, as well as some senators who entered the upper house last year but are careful to state how they will vote. Among those who in recent weeks recognized that they will vote favorably is the Peronist from Santa Fe Roberto Mirabella.

From the ruling party, they also mention that it will weigh in the decision of the legislators of the Frente de Todos that the project on IVE has been promoted by the government of Alberto Fernández.

In addition, they consider that both absences and abstentions will be key; above all, if one takes into account that -unlike the Chamber of Deputies- the Senate maintains the protocol of preventive isolation and no face-to-face sessions have been held since March.

In fact, although no one wants to advance numbers, the calculations would be giving a slight advantage in favor of the legalization of abortion, mainly because one of the senators who voted against it in 2018, the official from Tucumán José Alperovich is on leave until the end of the year to resolve his situation judicial, after a complaint for sexual abuse.

The abortion legalization project allows the voluntary interruption of pregnancy until the 14th week of gestation, at the same time that it enables the conscientious objection of professionals who do not agree with this medical practice. The 14 week period will not apply when the pregnancy was the result of rape, in cases of children under 13 years of age or if life is at risk.

In the cases of children under 16 who decide to have an abortion, will require their consent and that they attend accompanied by a relative or an affective reference, while people over 16 years of age have full capacity by themselves to give their consent.

In the event that a private institution does not have professionals to carry out termination of pregnancy, must arrange for referral to another institution, as contemplated in the project.