A plaque at the entrance to the Congress reminds parliamentarians that the Virgin of Luján is the patron saint of Argentine political parties. In the country of Pope Francis, which is about to vote on the legalization of abortion, the Church is exerting all its strength.
With a half penalty received by the Chamber of Deputies on December 11, the Senate is due to vote on a law on Tuesday for voluntary termination of pregnancy until the 14th week of pregnancy. The sides for and against are equal. Two years ago, a similar initiative failed due to opposition from the majority of senators, amid an intense campaign from the Catholic and Evangelical churches.
In recent days, both municipalities have doubled their pro-life bet with several gatherings and marches around the country.
Mutual support
Argentina’s constitution guarantees freedom of worship. A reform in 1994 ended the requirement to belong to Catholicism to serve as president of the republic. However, it maintained in its preamble the invocation to God, as well as the second article, which assures the support of the government of the Catholic religion.
“The Catholic Church in Argentina has a great capillarity. There is a very strong Catholic culture in the political world, “said sociologist Fortunato Mallimaci, author of” The Myth of Secular Argentina, “says AFP. Catholicism, Politics and the State.”
“Religious groups look for the support of the state and the state, when they feel weak they look for support from religious groups. The weight of the Catholic Church today is more political than religious“, emphasizes Mallimaci.
The constitutional provision translates this into practice the Argentinian state pays a salary to bishops and subsidizes Catholic education, which covers 36% of the education in the country, according to this specialist.
Mallimaci emphasizes, however, that since the return of democracy in 1983, Catholicism has lost its influence, while “the evangelical world is growing enormously”.
According to a 2019 survey of religious beliefs conducted by the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (Conicet), 62.9% of Argentines declare themselves Catholic, 18.9% without religion and 15.3% Evangelical.
In this last democratic period, divorce was approved (1987). Then came an extensive Sex Education Act (2006), one for equal marriage (2010) and one on gender identity (2012).
The Church and Abortion
In Argentina, since 1921, abortion has been permitted in cases of rape or death to a woman, when the radical president (social democrat) Hipólito Yrigoyen ruled. If the current bill is passed, the termination of pregnancy will be free until the 14th week of pregnancy.
“There is an opposition and a very strong rejection from the Catholic Church, which is playing hard” to prevent the passing of the law, constitutional lawyer Alfonso Santiago told AFP.
But if approved, this expert will rule out a breach in the dialogue between the church and the government of center-left Alberto Fernández, promoter of the law and proud of his good relationship with the Pope, former bishop of Buenos Aires.
“I don’t think there will be a break in cooperation on other issues. It didn’t happen before when an equal marriage was approved,” said Santiago.
Although Pope Francis has more than once equated abortion with hiring a hit man, he has done nothing during this parliamentary debate in Argentina for the time being.
“It is a law that is not obligatory. The problem that arises for the Catholic Church when abortion is legalized is that it remains in it, and not in the state, to make its believers comply with a prohibition that is only religious. ”explains Mallimaci.
A 2020 Conicet study found that 22.3% of Catholics in Argentina believe that women should have the right to have an abortion if they want to55.7% believe that abortion should only be allowed in certain circumstances 17.2% reject it in all cases.
Evangelical mobilization
Evangelical organizations have led massive demonstrations by opponents of abortion legalization since 2018.
They have the impulse of the reborn. The celestial manifestations [contra el aborto, por el color del pañuelo con el que se identifican, Ndlr] they are led by them, Catholics don’t mobilize that way, ”says Mallimaci.
Despite their constant growth, the evangelical churches in Argentina “do not have the same political strength as in other countries, such as Brazil, where they have a parliamentary bloc,” says Santiago.
“It is a very dispersed structure, with a lot of diversity, but with a great capacity to mobilize its people,” he emphasizes.
The next opportunity to demonstrate is next Tuesday, outside of Congress, where feminist activists with the green scarf also gather, for a parliamentary day in which both sectors hold their breath and neither dare to anticipate a result.