International

A year on from Argentine abortion law, change is slow

AFP

A year ago Argentina joined the limited ranks of Latin American countries to have legalized abortion, but while that gave hope to millions of women, changing mentalities, practices and infrastructure has proved more difficult.

“In small villages, you go for an ultrasound in the morning and in the afternoon the baker congratulates you on your pregnancy,” Monik Rodriguez, 33, told AFP.

Rodriguez, who has three children, runs a service accompanying women who want to have an abortion in Salta, a conservative Catholic province in the South American country.

Away from the big city of Buenos Aires, where women erupted in celebration when the law was approved, many in more remote and conservative areas of Argentina face the same stigma as before.

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“There are still things that need to come out of hiding,” said Rodriguez, who can take up to 125 telephone calls a month as part of the project launched by the Women’s Strength civil association.

“The most important thing is to listen. It’s about trying to overcome the hurdles, accompanying them through the health system so they don’t get lost in the bureaucratic labyrinth.”

Rodriguez takes calls from all sorts: teenagers and first-time mothers to women with large families and even those that are pre-menopausal.

“On this line, abortion is not recommended but neither is motherhood romanticized,” said Rodriguez, who underwent a secret abortion a decade ago when already mother to one child.

“I was late and had an abortion. It went badly and I had to go to hospital. The tests showed I hadn’t been pregnant.

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“It was the secrecy that created worry. Along with misinformation, that is what puts us at risk.”

The government estimates that 3,000 women died between 1983 and 2020 in clandestine abortions, of which there were up to 500,000 a year.

– Anti-abortion pressure –

For a century, abortion was only legal in cases of rape or if the mother’s life was at risk.

Legalization has not led to a sudden spate of abortions, particularly in places like Salta.

Miranda Ruiz, 33, is the only doctor in Tartagal — a small town of 75,000 people in Salta — not to exercise her legal right to be a conscientious objector to carrying out abortions.

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Anti-abortion groups in the town are influential.

In September, Ruiz was briefly detained following an accusation by the aunt of a 21-year-old patient that she had performed an abortion beyond the authorized limit of 14 weeks.

Feminist groups are demanding that her case be dismissed.

“It is a way of bringing the other doctors to heel,” said Sofia Fernandez, a member of the National Campaign for the Right to Abortion — a collective of 300 feminist organizations that have been fighting for 15 years for change.

They say there are still 1,500 people facing criminal cases over abortions.

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The complaint against Ruiz was the only one made in 2021, although there have been 36 court filings against the law, mostly claiming it is unconstitutional.

“Of those, 24 have already been dismissed,” said Valeria Isla, the director of sexual and reproductive health at the health ministry.

– ‘Huge inequality’ –

“There is a huge inequality in access to the practice depending on location,” said Isla.

During the course of 2021, the number of specialist medical teams carrying out abortions rose from 943 to 1,243 despite the pandemic complicating matters.

Distribution of the drug misoprostol, which chemically provokes abortions, rose from 9,000 in 2019 to more than 43,000 in 2021.

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“But there is a lot of demand and we’re not able to increase (the number of) these (teams) at the necessary rate. It’s a structural stumbling block,” added Isla.

There were more than 32,000 abortions conducted in public hospitals and clinics in 2021, said Isla, whose big goal for 2022 is to train medical teams specialized in abortions, to make their services more widely available and to inform women of their rights and the tools at their disposal.

That would help Rodriguez avoid taking calls from desperate young teenagers like one “locked in a bathroom crying … she had just dropped a home pregnancy test down the toilet and couldn’t afford to buy another one.”

International

Pilot killed and two Pennsylvania state troopers injured in mid-air collision

A pilot was killed and two Pennsylvania state police officers were injured when a Cessna 150 airplane collided with the helicopter they were traveling in during a routine training exercise at a regional airport in the state.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro identified the officers as Corporal Bryce Corman and Trooper Jason Mills, members of the Pennsylvania State Police aviation unit. Both are expected to recover from their injuries, according to ABC.

The county coroner’s office identified the pilot as 57-year-old Paul Sokoloski.

George Bivens, acting commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, said the collision occurred at around 6:50 p.m. Wednesday. The helicopter was flying several feet above a grassy area near a runway at Carlisle Regional Airport when the small plane approached from behind.

According to investigators, the Cessna suddenly veered to the right moments before the collision, striking the helicopter’s tail rotor before also hitting its main rotor.

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The airplane crashed a short distance away and broke into several pieces, while the helicopter lost its tail and other components before crashing on its side.

Police said Corporal Corman opened a window and helped Trooper Mills escape from the helicopter because they feared the aircraft could catch fire.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.

International

Argentina’s Milei Links Low Birth Rates to Abortion and Feminism

Argentine President Javier Milei on Thursday blamed feminism and the legalization of abortion for the country’s declining birth rate, arguing that the demographic trend is creating economic and pension-system challenges.

“We are paying a very high price for the madness of the green scarves,” Milei said during a speech at the Council of the Americas in Buenos Aires, referring to the symbol associated with the feminist movement and the campaign for legal abortion in Argentina.

According to Milei, Argentina is failing to reach the population growth and birth rates needed to maintain demographic replacement.

He also linked the decline in births to future challenges for the country’s pension system and workforce.

“That passion for killing children in the mother’s womb is costing us in terms of growth and pensions. It is also costing us in terms of human capital,” the president said.

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Milei has consistently opposed abortion, which has been legal in Argentina since 2020. The law was considered a major victory for the feminist movement across Latin America at the time of its approval.

In February 2024, lawmakers from Milei’s La Libertad Avanza (LLA) party introduced a bill seeking to repeal voluntary abortion legislation.

Under Argentina’s current law, abortion is legal, safe and free of charge up to the 14th week of pregnancy. After that period, it is permitted when the pregnancy poses a risk to the woman’s life or health, or when it resulted from rape.

Milei has repeatedly criticized abortion

The Argentine president has also criticized abortion and feminism in international forums. During his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2024, he attacked the feminist movement and denounced what he described as the “bloody agenda of abortion.”

His latest comments come amid growing concerns over Argentina’s demographic outlook and the potential long-term effects of declining birth rates on economic growth, the labor force and social security.

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International

Virginia Police Arrest Salvadoran Man in Great Falls Woman’s Killing

Alexis Antonio Cedillos-Campos, 19, identified by federal officials as an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, was arrested in connection with the death of Carmen Lizet Puch, 42, who was found dead Monday, the Fairfax County Police Department said.

Authorities said Cedillos-Campos and Puch were coworkers and were also involved in an “intimate relationship.”

“Our victim suffered numerous stab wounds in a truly brutal and indescribable manner,” Police Chief Kevin Davis said during a news conference Wednesday.

Investigators said surveillance video showed Cedillos-Campos at the restaurant where he and Puch worked, allegedly taking a fixed-blade knife, a pair of black latex gloves and a bottle of water before leaving.

“He left with the intent to harm and kill the victim,” Davis said.

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Cedillos-Campos was arrested Wednesday morning in Maryland and confessed to the killing, according to Davis. He is awaiting extradition to Virginia. Authorities have not said whether he has an attorney representing him.

The Department of Homeland Security said Cedillos-Campos had previously been arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in 2024 after allegedly crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally near El Paso, Texas.