大象传媒

After a marathon debate the Senate in Argentina has voted to legalise abortion up to the fourteenth week of pregnancy, despite opposition from the Roman Catholic church. It's the fourth Latin American country to allow women to choose whether to keep a pregnancy.

Amnesty International says that every year almost 40,000 Argentine women and girls end up in hospital after undergoing unsafe abortions. The current law authorises abortion only in cases of rape or when the mother's health is at risk.

The Senate vote was expected to be finely balanced but the margin of victory, 38 to 29 nine with one abstention, was clear. Outside large crowds of campaigners - both for and against the bill - waited for the decision. Among them was journalist and pro-abortion supporter, Tamara Tenenbaum.

(Pic: Campaigners for the abortion law in Buenos Aires; Credit: EPA)