Judge María Eugenia Bona of the province of San Luis, in central Argentina, declared the unconstitutionality of the abortion law in that jurisdiction, based on an amparo claim filed by Liliana Negre de Aloso, lawyer, former senator and member of the Political Network for Values. The sentence was issued on March 18 and is the first of its kind in the country.

Negre requested the cessation of the “state of uncertainty” caused by the contradiction between articles of the abortion law (No. 26,710) approved in December 2020 and the Civil and Commercial Code, and requested the prohibition of “the medical or clinical surgical practice of the abortion ”, with the exception of the grounds contemplated in paragraphs A and B of Article 4 of the abortion law, which allow the practice when the pregnancy is the result of rape or there is a danger of death for the mother.

The judge declared the full validity of article 19 of the Civil and Commercial Code that recognizes the “existence of the human person from conception” and also declared the unconstitutionality and unconstitutionality of some articles of the abortion law: article 4, paragraph 1 ; Article 2 subsection a, b, c.

It is “unconventional” because it assumes the provisions of the Vienna Convention, the Human Rights Convention or the Pact of San José de Costa Rica, signed by the country; and it is unconstitutional because it openly confronts the National Constitution and the Constitution of the Province of San Luis.

Article 4 of the Magna Carta protects the right to life and Article 49 of the Provincial Constitution of San Luis states that “the State protects the human person from conception to birth to full development.”

In addition, Bona specified that article 3 of the law for the comprehensive protection of children and adolescents “gives precedence to the right of the child, in the face of a conflict.”

The judge also recalled the statements of the College of Lawyers and Attorneys of the Province of San Luis and the National Academy of Law, which questioned the abortion law even before its approval.

Negre explained that abortions will continue to be practiced in the province as long as the sentence is not ratified; for which she must go through several judicial instances until she reaches the Supreme Court of Argentina. “It’s a first step, in the right direction,” she assessed.

The abortion law was an electoral promise by Argentine President Alberto Fernández, whose bill was debated in less than a month in both houses of Congress.

To reverse the law, some pro-life organizations and lawyers have filed actions of protection to declare its unconstitutionality in provinces such as Buenos Aires, Mendoza and Salta. In addition, numerous statements of conscientious objection from doctors, health personnel and clinics have been added.