(CNN) – Montecarlo is a small town in the province of Misiones, Argentinewith just under 20,000 inhabitants. Those who walk through its neighborhoods can find cobbled streets, but most of the roads are made of dirt. Anyone wishing to travel from this city to Posadas, the provincial capital, must drive about three hours.

María (who asked not to be identified by her real name so as not to be recognized in her town) says that in Montecarlo, all the neighbors know each other. He has four children: the oldest is 13 years old and the youngest is just over a year old.

As she talks, she nurses her baby and explains that she has been handling all household and childcare responsibilities for a while now: her husband lost his registered job in February and had to move to a city in near where he cleans. work in the fields.

In July, María noticed a delay in her period despite using contraceptives. The situation at home was not easy, and supporting four children on an informal income meant that her family barely got by every month. She says having another child was not an option. As soon as she suspected she might be pregnant, she went to her regular gynecologist, who had helped her deliver her children.

“When I found out, I panicked because my child was only one year old at the time. I had complications with other births, and after the last one, the doctor told me that it would be impossible for me to have another child, that it would be too risky,” María explains to CNN.

During the consultation, María asked about her options to access abortion, but the doctor told her that he does not do such procedures and asked her to leave.

After this initial negative response, María received an appointment at the local public hospital. There she also asked for help, but they could not give her information about her alternatives. So she looked for a third option: she traveled to Eldorado, a town neighboring Montecarlo, where the public hospital has a family planning department.

There, they sat her down with other patients and explained to everyone how the abortion procedure works. When some of them asked if the hospital would provide the drugs, they were told that there was not enough and they would be given a prescription to buy misoprostol, the abortion drug, privately.

“At that time, I didn’t have 100,000 pesos (about $73 at the July parallel rate). My husband lost his registered job, so I went to the public hospital to get it for free,” she explains, adding that she tried to inquire about misoprostol with professionals at the public hospital in her area , but they didn’t have either. free medicine.

“When I asked, they answered: no, we don’t have any. I started crying, coming home, I was overwhelmed with despair because my husband had gone away for work and I was left alone. I felt that every door was closed to me. And I arrived home crying with the baby in my arms”, says María.

CNN contacted the Ministry of Health in the province of Misiones, where they confirmed: “This year we had a significant deficit from the National Sexual Health Program, regarding the basket of sexual health products, including misoprostol. The province is working to restore the situation, and in the specific case of the investigation, treatments are sent to hospitals to ensure access.”

Since the beginning of his administration, the government of Argentine President Javier Mila has stopped the purchase of essential materials for access to abortion and has not delivered a single box of misoprostol, mifepristone or manual vacuum suction cannulae, essential items to guarantee access to abortion for people pregnant , according to a submitted information request by the rights group Amnesty International.

Abortions were legalized in Argentina in 2021 in all cases up to 14 weeks of pregnancy. Under the law, a person who wants an abortion has the right to do so safely and for free.

However, exercising this right has become increasingly difficult in the country over the past year, as confirmed by organizations dedicated to monitoring reproductive rights in Argentina, such as Amnesty International, the Latin American Justice and Gender Team and the Abortion Access Network Secure, among others.

According to the report presented in May by the National Directorate of Sexual and Reproductive Health of the Ministry of Health of Argentina, the distribution of drugs and equipment for manual vacuum aspiration was not carried out until that month due to the lack of stock and the guarantee of these deliveries for the months remaining would depend on the evolution of the public auction, which at the time of the official response, was in progress.

Amnesty International made a new request for information to follow up on the issue in September. To date, the government has not responded to this new request. CNN reiterated its inquiry and also received no response.

Looking for a workaround

As a last resort, María looked for alternatives online. This is what Amnesty International, an organization that works to promote and defend human rights, came across. Through a form on their website, she shared the obstacles she faced in accessing an abortion in her province, and within a week, professionals from the NGO contacted her and provided guidance on to how to get free drugs to assert their right to due process. free and safe abortion.

María is one of the cases where Amnesty International had to intervene to ensure a safe abortion. The law stipulates that people who want to access this procedure must have the right guaranteed within ten days at the most. Maria took almost a month to have an abortion.

According to the organisation, complaints about barriers to accessing voluntary termination of pregnancy via the complaint form available on their website have increased by 80% in the year to August 2024 compared to the previous year.

Lucila Galkin, director of gender and diversity at Amnesty International Argentina, warns in an interview with CNN: “The official information is that there will be no supplies until October, but we know that the situation is even worse. It is much more critical because the procurement of these supplies has not even been initiated, so it is likely that there will be none throughout the year”.

The contrast with data from previous years is striking, Galkin explains. “While in 2023, almost 150,000 misoprostol and mifepristone combination treatments have been guaranteed or distributed nationally, this year the provinces have not received stock and we have confirmed this through public information requests to the various provinces,” he said. she detailed.

Similarly, information from health professionals in the Safe Abortion Access Network (RedAAS by its Spanish acronym) aligns with this. One of its directors, Silvina Ramos, explains to CNN that the lack of distribution of these drugs is aggravated by the shortage of condoms, oral contraceptives, implants and the full basket of products for sexual and reproductive health.

Amnesty’s Galkin pointed out that provinces are not only reporting a lack of access to supplies for legal voluntary termination of pregnancy, but also a lack of contraceptive methods. “There is a lot of concern about the impact this will have on family planning,” she pointed out.

CNN contacted the National Department of Health about both the shortages and a second request for public information, but did not receive a response.

A temporary solution

According to Amnesty International and RedAAS, provincial governments are looking for alternatives to fill the void left by the national government in reproductive health.

“Some provinces immediately made direct purchases, because otherwise the rights of women and pregnant women end up being violated,” Galkin explains.

Ramos adds: “Provinces are buying in quantities that probably won’t meet the entire demand, but there is a willingness on the part of some provinces to take on the purchase of supplies.”

The problem with leaving it up to each province, both experts explain, is that it deepens inequalities in different regions of the country, because not all regions have the same resources.

Ramos argues that the impact of this withdrawal of the Mila government on public health policies could be twofold: “Women who end up having no access to abortion and who may resort to unsafe abortions or continue a forced pregnancy. Those are the options for a woman who wants an abortion and can’t get the procedure.”

Galkin concludes: “It has been shown, within two years of implementation, how it has helped reduce, for example, the maternal mortality rate through abortion by 53% from 2020 to 2022. Legal voluntary termination of pregnancy is another health service which must be included in the mandatory medical program and be available to the population because it is a public health issue.”

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