Argentina’s senate has rejected a bill which would have legalised abortion without restriction in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. After the vote, pro-choice campaigners protested in the streets, starting fires and lobbing missiles at police.

Currently abortion is allowed in Argentina in cases of rape, or if the ‘mother’s health’ is in danger. This bill which represented a further expansion of the abortion law was rejected by a vote of 38 to 31, with the chamber’s 30 female senators evenly split on the issue.

Anti-abortion activists responded with jubilation. “It’s a joy to see that our society can be based on such an important principle as the defence of the most defenceless, the child,” said one.

The Pro Life Campaign in Ireland has welcomed the vote. PLC spokesperson, Cora Sherlock said: “There’s one marked difference between the abortion debate in Argentina and the recent one in Ireland. Thankfully the lies that were repeatedly told by many abortion supporters during the referendum debate in Ireland didn’t pervade the debate in Argentina to the same extent. The evidence of the negative after-effects of abortion on women and the fact that abortion kills an innocent unborn baby clearly resonated during the public debate in Argentina in recent weeks. The scaremongering and deep seated bias from large sections of the media didn’t win out on this occasion. That’s a great result for mums and their unborn babies and the right to life which is being disregarded in so many places at present.”