In Argentina, approximately 54 abortions are performed per hour. According to the latest official statistics, 39,025 women and girls were admitted to hospital for abortion-related health complications in a single year. 16% were between the ages of 10 and 19, and this is only a fraction of the total number of pregnant women affected.

This past Monday 28th, virtual actions were held throughout the country to mark 30 years of the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortion as part of a regional initiative pursuing the same goal in Latin America.

In addition to dead women, clandestine abortions leave behind short and long term consequences. For this reason, the demand is that the State takes care of the health of girls, teenagers and women guaranteeing an equal access to the health system.

Many of the women who have to go through a clandestine abortion are poor, who can't afford a safe, yet illegal, interruption of pregnancy. And their pregnancies are frequently the result of abuse and rape.

The current administration of president Alberto Fernández made a public commitment to send a bill to Congress, while the project submitted by the National Campaign group is still waiting to be discussed by lawmakers.

Clandestine abortion and its consequences is a massive health emergency both in Argentina and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Forced motherhood is a new form of slavery, activists say. They assure the unsafe abortions poor women undergo result in more deaths and exposes how social inequality increases.

Campaigners continue to uphold the same slogan: "Sex education to decide, contraceptives to prevent abortions and legal abortions to prevent death".

Translation and VO: Fernando Farías
Content Production: Silvana Avellaneda
Web Production: Julián Cortez