The legalisation of abortion up to the 14th week of pregnancy in Argentina on Wednesday triggered emotional scenes outside the Congress building in Buenos Aires.

Pro-choice activists embraced and cheered while waving the green handkerchiefs which have become symbolic of their decades-long fight for free and legal abortions to be made available to women across the country.

Anti-abortion demonstrators meanwhile watched dejected as the bill was passed in the Senate, the last step needed for it to become law.

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Until now, abortions had only been permitted in cases of rape or when the mother’s health was at risk. Without access to legal abortions, tens of thousands of women had clandestine abortions each year often performed by people not medically qualified.

Journalist Jeevan Ravindran asked a selection of women in Buenos Aires to reflect on what the change in the law means to them.

Source: Argentines on abortion legalisation: ‘I felt relieved’