The president of the Chamber of Deputies of Argentina, Martín Menem, openly declared himself pro-life and anticipated that in 2025 an attempt could be made to repeal the abortion law, approved in the country in December 2020, during the government of Alberto Fernández.
In one interview with Alejandro Fantinothe official, who belongs to the ruling La Libertad Avanza bloc, considered that “the previous (law) can be modified or a new law can be made that repeals the previous one, perfectly.”
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Asked about the possibility of moving in that direction next year, he acknowledged that “it could be,” but “I don’t think we have the numbers,” that is, the number of legislators necessary to approve it.
“I like the idea. Personally, I do not vote, I vote in very few circumstances,” he explained, alluding to the fact that the President of the Chamber only intervenes in votes in the event of a tie; when the National Constitution requires a special or absolute majority, and the president must inform the House of his decision; or when the president participated in the discussion of an issue and the deputy who replaced him does not want to vote.
“I am pro-life, literally. I don’t doubt it. Light blue scarf from here to China,” Menem emphasized, in reference to the flagship scarf of the defenders of “the 2 lives” in Argentina.
Faced with the journalist’s warning about the social consequences that a modification in the abortion law could bring, the official was firm: “We have touched on a lot of other interests and we have not hesitated about that.”
“I, personally, am pro-life,” he summarized.
Dr. Ana Belén Mármora, lawyer, journalist and pro-life reference, spoke with ACI Prensa and considered “a fact to celebrate that for the first time in many years we are facing a president of the Chamber who is openly pro-life, something that did not happen during “no debate.”
On the other hand, he stated that Menem’s opinion makes it clear that “we must fill the Chamber of Deputies, and also Senators, with legislators who respect life from conception and are willing to prepare for a new debate, so that respect for “life makes its way in Argentina.”
For this, he anticipated, “the legislative elections in 2025 will be crucial,” and he hoped: “We have the possibility of reversing abortion in our hands.”
“There is no doubt that Javier Milei will mark our agenda and upcoming debates, but for that reason, precisely because our president has even declared this year as the year of life, freedom and property, we must work hard so that the life of every Argentine is inviolable,” he said.
The president of Argentina, Javier Milei, has spoken out on several occasions against abortion, which he describes as “murder aggravated by the relationship.”
“What politicians do is party and pass the bill to generations that were not even born, and some, who also try to kill, who are the murderers of the green scarves,” denounced the president last March, in reference to the color used by abortion activists. However, the government has not presented any specific project on the matter, and in May the president assured that the issue was not on the agenda.
From the Frente Joven organization, María Guadalupe Correa told ACI Prensa that every year they see “how the issue of abortion kills not only children but the mothers and families that we accompany.”
“Since the approval of Law 27,610, we find ourselves with a society that has accepted abortion as a reality and that has stopped talking about the issue,” he lamented.
For this reason, he considered it essential “that the issue once again be part of the national agenda, that our officials speak in favor of life. We want the lives of all Argentines to be accompanied from conception, for hospitals to be places that welcome life, where both physical and mental health are accompanied and cared for,” Angeló.
In that sense, he appreciated that the current president of the Chamber of Deputies “openly expresses his position and gives rise to a new debate.” This, he assured, “brings hope for all those who, through foundations or small actions, seek to accompany families, mothers and children.”
Juliet Villar
I am a journalist, with a degree in communication from the National University of La Matanza in Argentina. I have work experience in non-governmental organizations. Since 2016 I have been dedicated to Catholic journalism, first at the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA) and, since 2022, as ACI Prensa correspondent for Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia.