The pregnancy test's positive result fell like a bomb on M's life. She was 26, had just been chosen for a doctorate scholarship, and her two-year relationship with her boyfriend, with whom she lived in an apartment in Buenos Aires, was sinking. Apparently, her birth control had failed two months earlier, thanks to an interaction with an antibiotic that had been prescribed by her doctor.

Abortion is illegal in Argentina, so M sought the advice of her friends. After two weeks of anguish, she ended up getting a box of misoprostol. The drug is used to treat ulcers — but it can also induce miscarriage. She took the drug alone at home and suffered horrible pain for 12 hours, all while bleeding much more than during a normal period. In those hours, she remembers, she feared for the worst. (M asked that BuzzFeed News only publish her first initial, for fear of legal consequences and her family is unaware that she had an abortion.)



The relief, she said in a phone interview with BuzzFeed News, came only 48 hours later when she went to the hospital and confirmed that there were no issues. Her story of anguish, pain, and uncertainty is one shared by the approximately 400,000 to 500,000 Argentinean women who resort to clandestine abortions every year in the country. (Estimates are uncertain and numbers vary according to the methodology used.)

According to the Ministry of Health, at least 10,000 women are admitted to hospitals with complications due to abortion every year. In 2017, according to official data, there were at least 60 deaths attributed to illegal abortions in the country.



On Wednesday, the country's Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Argentine National Congress, will vote on a bill that authorizes abortion without restrictions until the 14th week of pregnancy. Under the current law, women who obtain abortions can be jailed. The only exceptions are in cases of rape or when the life of the mother is threatened. The proposal would also legalize abortion without a time limit if birth defects are found in the fetus.



The outcome of the vote is far from certain. A whip count from La Nacion, a local newspaper, found that 119 deputies plan to vote against the bill and 111 are for it. The decision rests in the hands of 24 deputies who have declared themselves either undecided or who refuse to say which way they intend to vote.



The way forward won't be easy, even if the deputies do approve the bill. The next step would be to go through the Senate, where analysts believe there is a strong majority against abortion. The hope of those in favor of the project is that a victory this Wednesday energizes public opinion enough to overcome the opposition.



Activists — working with groups like Ni Una Menos — have taken to the streets and grown into a revitalized national movement since President Mauricio Macri asked Congress in February to vote on the issue.