The majority of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s bloc in the Upper House will vote in favour of a bill to decriminalise abortion, a CFK ally has revealed.
However, doubts remain about the former president’s own voting intention given her historic opposition to abortion reform.
Santa Fe Senator María de los Ángeles Sacnun confirmed her bloc will “accompany” a vote on abortion from March 20 when the first bill is expected to reach Congress.
“My position in based on the need for public health policy that guarantees, cares for and protects the lives of thousands of poor women in Argentina who die as a result of clandestine abortions”, she told Radio Cultura.
Since a debate about abortion resurfaced this summer, the bloc's leader Fernández de Kirchner has not expressed her voting intention or even addressed the issue of abortion publicly, nor have any of her Senate colleagues commented on her position.
The Senate is the one major hurdle for proponents of “legal, safe and free” abortion since sources close to President Mauricio Macri confirmed the head of state would not veto any changes to the existing law.
The bill has cross-party support but is largely expected to fail in the Senate. The so-called Kirchnerite bloc in the Lower House is expected to vote in favour of the bill.
-TIMES
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