The Abortion Issue

In Argentina, abortion is illegal except for if the pregnancy puts the woman's life in danger, or if the pregnancy is a result of rape.  This has led to a high number of unsafe and illegal abortion performed each year.  The main cause of maternal mortality in Argentina is complications due to unsafe abortions.  In Argentina, about 40 percent of pregnancies end in abortion.  Even in cases where abortion is legal, many doctors, especially in rural areas, do not have the knowledge of how to perform the abortion or are not willing to perform abortions.  Many times, all women, including the ones within their legal limits, are forced to handle the abortion illegally and often dangerously.  Wealthier women also have an easier time finding a safe clinic to perform the abortion because they have the money and means, but lower class women sometimes must resort to using household objects to perform the task on their own.  Because of the methods that women sometimes use, like placing an object into the uterus, serious injury can easily occur.  When these women go to the hospital, they are often mistreated, even though there are laws requiring staff to act humanly.  The nurses and doctors will go as far as to perform treatment that requires anesthesia without giving the woman anesthesia.  This is a major issue that must be taken care of because it is effecting hundreds of thousands of women each year.