On Wednesday, Pope Francis’s home country of Argentina legalized abortion, after the senate approved a bill presented by President Alberto Fernandez.

Pope Francis referred specifically to the abortion debate in Argentina three times since Fernandez presented the bill in November, through three private letters that later became public. In his letters, the pope noted that the pro-life position is a “scientific” issue, and not a religious one.

The law allows minors as young as 15 to have an abortion without parental consent.

Several pro-choice senators argued that their Catholic upbringing led them to their decision, saying they were protecting the life of the mother.

The new law allows for abortion on demand up until the 14th week of pregnancy, and woman can have an abortion up to birth if her mental health is at risk, although it does not define the term.

Though hospitals and clinics can refuse to perform abortions, they must cover the expenses for a woman to receive it somewhere else.

Fernandez had promised to make abortion “legal, safe and free” in the campaign trail, and the first decision by his health minister was to create a protocol making abortion more widely available in the country if a pregnancy was the result of rape or the life of the mother were at risk.

Argentine senate legalizes abortion in Pope Francis’s homeland