Legalizing Abortion in Argentina

 

    On the 30th day of December 2020, Wednesday, Argentina became the fourth and largest nation in Latin America to legalize abortion. Wednesday's triumph is from the five years of mass dissent walks by Argentina's grassroots women's movement. It started as a Twitter crusade against sexual orientation viciousness that utilized the hashtag #NiUnaMenos ("Not one less" – which means no more ladies lost to gender brutality).

    Hearing it at first, I was so against it, especially when I saw how happy the crowd, specifically teenagers, reacted when they knew the verdict. From the videos that I saw from TikTok, they are so delighted jumping out of joy that they can already legally kill an innocent human being. Still, I was very wrong that I judged the situation without knowing the facts beforehand. In the law, legalizing abortion is just limited to victims of rape and if a mother's life is at risk like ectopic pregnancy.

    Abortion is an example of moral absolutism that no matter what the reason may, it still means that an innocent life has been intentionally taken away. This is why I cannot blame the people who are against it and kept on expressing their opinions regarding this issue. But it was unethical and beyond the line that they call those rejoicing women devil and killers. Watching videos and reading articles already made others conclude that these women want pleasure and run away from the consequences of their mistakes. This doesn't seem fair because we don't have the right to judge and stereotype them without knowing the different reasons. Some do it for their health, to save their life and because they experienced rape. They have other stories to tell that could be the foundation that came up with the idea of pushing through this movement.

    However, I do not wholly agree with this law because, in any aspect, it just ends in one outcome, which is an innocent baby would be hurt. But I do not wholly disagree with this law because of the individual situations that may happen. Their mother might hate a child born due to rape because it reminds her of the traumatic past. Maybe an unwanted pregnancy would lead to a child who would experience child labor, be bullied for having a rapist father, and all those harsh judgments happening in this world. When it comes to endangering a mother's life, I know that both are important, but scientifically speaking, we need to assess where we'd have more significant benefits. Whether it is to save the mother or continue the pregnancy and risk both the mother and child's life, the decision would usually depend on an individual's virtue ethics. If it's justification will somehow suffice to her right and wrong standards, then it is her freedom of choice to do such an act. I agree that women should have the freedom to do what they want, but for me, abortion is not something that should be celebrated because it's still basically killing even though it's still a 14-week-old baby. They could have marked the day more appropriately and quietly.

    In my opinion, this law also has its downside. This could be made as an excuse for all women doing abortion even though the truth is it was because of their curiosity and pleasure needs. Those people who do not fully understand the situation might conclude that abortion is normal and right. But the most unfortunate part of this whole issue is the fetus, who never had a single idea of what's going on but became someone to pay for the consequences of the cruel and unavoidable fate that happens in life.