Buenos Aires, Aug 8 (EFE).- The draft law on the voluntary termination of pregnancy in Argentina, currently being debated in the Senate on Wednesday, has brought the South American country into spotlight, sparking demonstrations in different countries as well as opinions from public figures both for and against it.
Outstanding figures from television, film or sports from different parts of the world have positioned themselves either with the “light-blue” side – a color representing support for the “pro-life” group – or the “green” side, which advocates free, safe and legal abortion.
Joining thousands of people who gathered in front of Congress in Buenos Aires is the American actress Anjelica Huston, who stands in favor of the bill.
“Senators @SenadoArgentina: the world is looking at Argentina. Criminalizing abortion places women in the dilemma of choosing between death or jail. Give Argentinian women the right to choose! #AbortoLegalYa,” she wrote on Twitter.
Also showing her support for the bill is Susan Sarandon, US actress and activist, who voiced her opinion on Twitter on Tuesday.
“The criminalization of abortion does not avoid women from having an abortion; it does push them to go to unsafe and clandestine places. Senators @SenadoArgentina the world is looking at you: give women the right to choose! #AbortoLegalYa,” Sarandon wrote.
Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal spoke in a video posted on his Instagram account that “I am nobody to decide on the body of anyone, but yes I can support a law that contemplates the rights of women for a more egalitarian country of social justice.”
Hundreds of people showed their support of the bill with “international panuelos” (international handkerchiefs) in different places and in front of the Argentine embassies and consulates across Latin America, such as in Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia and Uruguay; in this latter South American nation abortion was legalized in 2012.
Japan, Australia, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom are some of the countries where demonstrations were held in favor of legal abortion.
On the other hand, important figures of Argentine society such as Mirtha Legrand or Wanda Nara have presented themselves as supporters of the “light-blue” side, who are against decriminalization of abortion.
Mexican actor, model, and singer Eduardo Verastegui posted a video on his Facebook page to support the opposition against the draft law.
The “pro-life” groups have spoken out against legalization for months.
If approved by the Senate, Argentina would become one of nearly 60 countries that allow voluntary interruption of pregnancy, most of them in the northern hemisphere of the world, with the exception of Uruguay, Australia and South Africa.