BUENOS AIRES, Argentina— Argentina's Supreme Court ruled
unanimously Tuesday that any rape victim can get an abortion, setting a
historic precedent in a country where abortions are generally illegal.
Until now, it had been up to a judge to decide which
rape victims could get abortions, and generally only women with mental
disabilities were approved. In several well-publicized cases, even young
girls who had been raped were forced to carry out their pregnancies.
The Supreme Court now says no rape victim can be
punished for terminating a pregnancy. And those women no longer need a
court order. All they need to provide to a doctor is a sworn declaration
that they were raped.
The Roman Catholic Church condemned the ruling, saying abortions are wrong even in the event of a rape.
Argentine women whose lives are endangered by pregnancy also are permitted to have abortions.
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