Prohibition of Abortion As A Form of Birth Control
Abortion in Argentina remains prohibited as of 2010, and is legal only in cases of rape, or where the life of the mother in danger. The Argentine Penal Code 846, moreover, was amended in 2008 to place stricter sanctions against women who seek an abortion, as well as any medical staff involved in the act. These limitations notwithstanding, an estimated 500,000 abortions are performed annually in Argentina (compared to around 700,000 live births), resulting in at least 10,000 hospitalizations due to complications (estimates vary widely) and around 100 deaths (a third of all maternal mortality). Access to contraceptives has long been discouraged by a succession of Argentine governments, which instead reward large families with subsidies that rise disproportionately with the seventh child; though Argentine women have long had among Latin America's lowest birth rates (averaging 2.3 births per woman in recent years), the policy has tended to encourage higher birth rates in the lowest strata of society (including women least able to afford large families). Contraceptives are widely used by sexually active Argentine women, as condoms are by Argentine men, and a variety of birth control products can be obtained freely in pharmacies; the Argentine government began their free distribution in 2003.
Read more about this topic: Women In Argentina
Famous quotes containing the words prohibition, abortion, form, birth and/or control:
“Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man’s appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“If the vice president thinks it’s disgraceful for an unmarried woman to bear a child, and if he believes that a woman cannot adequately raise a child without a father, then he’d better make sure that abortion remains safe and legal.”
—Diane British (b. 1948)
“While they stand at home at the door he is dead already,
The only son is dead.
But the mother needs to be better,
She with thin form presently drest in black,
By day her meals untouch’d, then at night fitfully sleeping, often waking,
In the midnight waking, weeping, longing with one deep longing,
O that she might withdraw unnoticed, silent from life escape and
withdraw,
To follow, to seek, to be with her dear dead son.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)
“Man’s main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality.”
—Erich Fromm (1900–1980)
“Above and beyond paying attention to feelings before and after a separation, never threaten your child with leaving or loss of love in an effort to control her behavior. Children believe their parents’ assertions that “I will send you away,” “I won’t love you any more,” “I’ll go away,” and are terrified with good reason. Fear is a very poor way of disciplining a child, and it can cause severe lifelong anxiety.”
—Alicia F. Lieberman (20th century)