BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (GPI)-- Analía, 32, obtained a clandestine abortion five years ago in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital. She declined to publish her last name because abortion is illegal in Argentina, under most circumstances. A short woman with short brown hair, Analía talks without smiling.
“Look, I began a relationship with a man, you know,” she says. “We went out for eight months. We ended when I got pregnant, rather, when we got pregnant. I didn’t make the baby alone, but he left me alone with the matter. After, he informed me that he was married. Nothing to do. He didn’t want to take reponsibility.” She says all he offered to do was to pay for the abortion. “He told me: ‘Don’t come to me with your problems,’” she says. “‘Tell me how much money you need and take care of it yourself.' It hurt me. I was in love, and I thought that we had a solid relationship.” Analía says that she decided to have an abortion because she couldn’t afford to raise the child alone. “I don’t have a high-level job,” says Analía, who works as an administrative employee at a local hospital. “I am an employee. I have never worked for much more than minimum wage. I don’t have higher studies. If I did have the baby, I was going to need economic, family and my partner’s support. I wasn’t capable of facing my family or anybody. I felt very alone.” Between speaking, Analía becomes serious, staring at one point on the floor with her eyes clear and open. Her voice then drops to a whisper as she begins to talk about the clandestine procedure.