The 98% of the municipalities in the province of Buenos Aires guarantee access to legal abortionas reported by the Buenos Aires government on the occasion of the two-year anniversary of the enactment of National Law No. 27,610, which guarantees the right to Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy (IVE).
In a press release, the Buenos Aires Ministry of Health reported that since the approval of the regulations 133 health centers and hospitals were incorporated into the Access Network which has, in total, 539 establishments distributed in 132 municipalities of the province.
“With the objective of prioritizing an access policy focused on reducing territorial inequities and expanding the first level of care, since the beginning of the administration, in 2019, 343 health establishments have joined the Abortion Access Network In this way, coverage was achieved in 98% of the municipalities of the Province”, it was specified.
“After 3 years of management and 2 years of implementation of the law, we can say that in the Province of Buenos Aires access to abortion is guaranteed in an equitable manner throughout the provincial territory,” he said. Charlotte RamirezDirector of Sexual and Reproductive Health.
For her part, the Minister of Women, Estela Diazstressed that “a present State is one that respects the rights and decisions of the people and that as a political project provides the tools to make them effective. We had a President of the Nation and a Vice President like Cristina Fernández de Kirchner who, with political will , they listened to society and the movement, understanding that where there is a need there must be a right won in public policy”.
Data from the Ministry of Health of the province of Buenos Aires
Since March 2020, more than 72,000 abortion situations have been registered, according to centralized data from the Buenos Aires Ministry of Health. Of the total collected, 95% correspond to voluntary and legal interruptions.
This represents a increase in access to this right guaranteed by law within the health system in the 12 regions of the Province of Buenos Aires, as specified in the press release.
In addition, it was indicated that in parallel to the growth of the Abortion Access Network, the Buenos Aires government is strengthening the strategy of state production and supply of the medicines necessary for the practice.
In this sense, the purchase of misoprostol to the public production laboratory of Santa Fe and in the 2020-2022 biennium more than 90 thousand treatments were purchased, which meant a saving of $538 million pesos compared to the market price.
On the other hand, this year an agreement was signed with the National University of La Plata (UNLP) for the development and subsequent public production of mifepristone, a medicine that, combined with misoprostol, is defined as “essential” by the WHO to carry out an effective, safe and quality practice.
In this regard, Sabrina Balaña, Provincial Director of Gender Equity in Health, indicated that “the use of the “combipack” (misoprostol + mifepristone) increases the effectiveness of abortions from 85% to 98% and reduces pain.
