The debate on abortion rights: the involvement of Catholic groups in the Health Committee of the Buenos Aires Legislature

Abstract

This paper discusses the participation of Catholic groups, specialized in bioethics and biolaw, in parliamentary debates on non-punishable abortion, in the Health Committee of the City of Buenos Aires, in late 2008. Taking into account the multiple transfers and influences between the political and the religious spheres in Argentina, the article examines the political strategy that certain actors of Catholicism use to consolidate the symbolic hegemony of the Catholic Church by regulating the life of individuals, especially women; and the use of these strategies as a way to maintain their hegemonic position within the Catholic Church.