As the city of Buenos Aires inches closer to legalising abortion, the Catholic bishops of the region have released a statement on the dignity of life.

This enables abortions in cases where its not explicitly criminalised by Argentina’s penal code, including pregnancies from rape or when the life of the baby is said to threaten that of the mother.

The latter point is contentious as critics say it is loosely applied and used to justify 88 percent of the abortions in the country. For some, it includes the “physical, psychological and social” health of the mother, and ranges from actually life-threatening medical conditions to a consensual relationship between two adults coming to an end.

The bishops of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, including Cardinal Mario Poli, handpicked by Francis as his successor in leading the country’s largest archdiocese, and Bishop Gustavo Carrara, who lives in the slums of the city, released a statement titled “Life is always dignified.”

In their statement, the bishops note that the protocol “contradicts the constitutional guarantees in favor of the most unprotected life,” and added they are not against the rights of women, but they are “in favour of life as it arrives, in every circumstance”.