DECLARATION: PUBLIC INFORMATION FOR SAFER ABORTION

Who can monopolize knowledge?

Women have been knowledge producers since the origin of humanity. The tradition embodied by today’s scientific women goes back to the first agricultural women, to the witches and the shamans, and culminates in the high percentage of students and professionals in medicine and the so-called “life sciences”. Now as before, women generate knowledge. Nevertheless, since the consolidation of modern science, access to knowledge has remained in few hands. Since science became fully ingrained inside the productive apparatus of the capitalist system, and took the place of religion as the ideological pillar of the patriarchal order, scientific knowledge has remained in the hands of the men of dominant groups. Its diffusion and utilization is subject to the interests of these groups, rather than the real needs and legitimate desires of the population. Knowledge has been turned into merchandise, regulated by patents and fees. Knowledge is used as an instrument of domination and control.

We consider scientific and technological knowledge to be the common property of all humanity, and it should be accessible to everyone, in free circulation and collective and permanent construction. Every obstacle impeding its availability should be removed. In this vein, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in 1948, already recognized the access to scientific knowledge as a human right: "Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits." (Art. 27.1). This statement was reiterated in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Art. 15b), of 1966, and in the Universal Declaration of Bioethics and Human Rights, of 2005. So many repetitions of this right illustrate its capital importance in contemporary life, and at the sa...

For updates and contact information from the hotline in Argentina, you can now check out their blogspot, www.informacionaborto.blogspot.com

Here you can get the latest reports on the functioning of the hotline, the group's public activities, and some of the latest press updates. You can also hear their radio spots, and sign on to their declaration for the right to safe abortion in Argentina.

Links Press

Watch in YouTube!:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=deo07ORRj2Q
www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6kbeRyWk60

Listen to Interviews and Radio Spots here:
Frequencia Zero FM
www.frecuenciazero.com.ar/sitio/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=206%3Aaborto-seguro&catid=3%3Adestacados&Itemid=18&lang=es
Radio Sur 102.7 FM
www.radiosur1027.org.ar/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=129&Itemid=39
(esp. numbers 6 & 7)

Ms. Magazine
www.msmagazine.com/news/uswirestory.asp?ID=11859

Pagina 12
www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/suplementos/las12/13-5071-2009-07-31.html
www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/suplementos/las12/subnotas/5071-513-2009-07-31.html
www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/suplementos/las12/subnotas/5071-516-2009-07-31.html
www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/suplementos/las12/subnotas/5071-515-2009-07-31.html
www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/suplementos/las12/subnotas/5071-517-2009-07-31.html
...

This is a day by day account of the launch of the hotline, "Abortion: More Information, Less Risks." Here you can see the events unfolding and get a feel for the progress of this initiative, as well as reflections on everything that happened. During these days, you can check in here to see what the latest events are, and after the campaign you can get a feel for what it was like to be here!

Argentina has a large and active feminist movement that has been pushing for the legalization and decriminalization of abortion for decades. However, despite the many advances made in the last years, there has been little progress toward changing the laws or addressing the reality of abortion in Argentina.

Abortion in Argentina is illegal except all cases, though according to the law, the punishment can be waived in cases of rape, or when the pregnancy puts the life of the women in danger. Even so, extra-legal abortion is a common practice, with about 500.000 abortions practiced per year, meaning 40% of all pregnancies end in abortion. Complications due to unsafe abortion are the principal cause of maternal mortality, leading to about 100 deaths per year. Each year about 68,000 women enter the public hospitals due to complications from unsafe abortions.

The number of abortions performed legally inside the public health system is low, though there are no statistics as to how many abortions are performed within the limits of the law. Because there are no clear regulations for deciding when a “non-punishable” abortion is legally available, women seeking legal abortions often have difficulty obtaining them due to the many barriers in the bureaucratic process and the “conscientious objection” of doctors. The lack of willing and trained doctors is extremely critical in smaller cities and rural areas where there are few doctors trained in abortion procedures. Even doctors who might be willing ideologically to perform an abortion within the limits of the law are afraid of facing prosecution due to the lack of procedural clarity surrounding the legal administration of abortion. Therefore, even women supposedly eligible for a legal abortion are forced to resort to the clandestine market.

Abortions performed clandestinely in Argentina vary in terms of method and security. Usually those with the money to pay for safe abortions are ab...