Argentine lawmakers began discussions on a new bill to legalize abortion Thursday, reopening a debate that has bitterly divided the traditionally Catholic South American nation.

With a vote in the lower house Chamber of Deputies looming on Friday, protesters from both sides of the divide gathered outside the Congress building in scenes reminiscent of those of two years ago, when the bill passed through the lower house but was narrowly rejected by the Senate.

A woman has a female symbol painted on her cheek during a pro-abortion demo outside the Argentine Congress in Buenos Aires, on December 10, 2020
A woman has a female symbol painted on her cheek during a pro-abortion demo outside the Argentine Congress in Buenos Aires, on December 10, 2020 AFP / JUAN MABROMATA

"Legal abortion now, safe and free," chanted pro-abortion activists wearing the green scarves which have become a symbol of their cause.

"It's a question of public health, social justice and human rights," Valeria Bonetto, a 48-year-old doctor, told AFP.

On the other side of a fence erected by police to keep the two groups apart, women in sky-blue scarves planned a "March for the Unborn Baby" for late Thursday, calling on lawmakers to "save both lives".

Pro-abortion activists demonstrate with a banner reading “Legal abortion, safe and free”, outside the Argentine Congress in Buenos Aires, on December 10, 2020
Pro-abortion activists demonstrate with a banner reading “Legal abortion, safe and free”, outside the Argentine Congress in Buenos Aires, on December 10, 2020 AFP / JUAN MABROMATA

In Argentina, abortion is only permitted in cases of rape or danger to the woman's life, under a 1921 law.

This is the ninth time in majority-Catholic Argentina -- homeland of Pope Francis -- that a bill to legalize abortion has been presented in parliament.

Pro-abortion activists demonstrate next to a sign written on the pavement reading “Girls not mothers” outside the Argentine Congress in Buenos Aires, on December 10, 2020
Pro-abortion activists demonstrate next to a sign written on the pavement reading “Girls not mothers” outside the Argentine Congress in Buenos Aires, on December 10, 2020 AFP / JUAN MABROMATA

Leftist President Alberto Fernandez announced last month he was bringing in the new bill, having promised the legislation during last year's presidential election campaign.

The lower house speaker Sergio Massa said 105 deputies were present in the chamber with 45 taking part remotely.

Pro-abortion activists demonstrate with drums outside the Argentine Congress in Buenos Aires, on December 10, 2020, where legislators began debating a bill to legalize abortion
Pro-abortion activists demonstrate with drums outside the Argentine Congress in Buenos Aires, on December 10, 2020, where legislators began debating a bill to legalize abortion AFP / JUAN MABROMATA

A majority of 129 of the 257 votes is needed to approve the bill, which lawmakers in the ruling coalition believe is possible -- though around half a dozen deputies were reported to be undecided.

A bill introduced under the previous center-right government of Mauricio Macri won approval in 2018, in a tight lower house vote before being rejected days later in the Senate, by 38 votes to 31, with two abstentions.

Both chambers were partially renewed in mid-term elections.

Fernandez has made some political gestures to opponents of abortion, pledging another bill, called the 1,000 Days Plan, which would help poorer families to avoid having to resort to an abortion for financial reasons.

The abortion bill under discussion on Thursday also allows for the conscientious objection of doctors who may refuse to carry out an abortion on religious grounds. However, they will be obliged to refer the patient for care in another hospital.

"The debate is not about abortion yes or no, but about safe abortion or unsafe abortion," Congresswoman Ana Carolina Gaillard from Fernandez's Frente de Todos coalition said, referring to the deaths of some 3,000 women in clandestine abortions in Argentna since 1983.

Martin Maquieyra, of the right-wing Pro party, called on lawmakers to "choose the difficult path, that of sex education and contraceptives," rather than termination.

"We need a state that accompanies its people and does not discard them. What kind of a country would Argentina be if we selected who was born," he said.

Argentine women and girls undergo between 370,000 and 520,000 clandestine abortions annually, with 39,000 hospitalizations each year, according to government statistics.

Argentina Abortion