Bioethical perspective on abortion in Argentina through the contribution of cinema

Abstract

Campaigns for Legal, Safe and Free abortion have led to the discussion in March of 2018 of a proposal on voluntary termination of pregnancy at the Argentine Congress, which was not approved afterwards at the Senate. The subject acquired remarkable diffusion in the media and massive participation of citizens in the streets, standing for and against the draft legislation. In this context, it is relevant to address the issue of abortion in Argentina from the bioethical perspective aiming to transcend ideological and moral issues. This article intends to analyse a contemporary Argentine film in which the plot revolves around the attempts of a seventeen-year-old girl who tries to have an abortion in a context where it is illegal. The methodology chosen is qualitative, and proposes content analysis to answers two research questions: how is the issue of abortion exposed in the film, from a bioethical perspective, and how is the contact between the pregnant person and health professionals described. Amongst the results found, considering the basic principles of bioethical principlism, such context of illegality affects the decision of the protagonist.