The new minister of Women, Gender and Diversity of Argentina, Ayelén Mazzina, said this Wednesday (19) that it is the pro-abortion, after an interview with her in 2018 where she said she was pro-life went viral since her appointment to the government of Alberto Fernández, last week.
In a press conference at Casa Rosada, Mazzina said that he was “in favor of the voluntary termination of pregnancy” and that his position has changed since the interview four years ago with a television channel in the province of San Luis, where she was a councilor.
“It’s a video of 2018. I’ve always told the story where I come from. I studied in a Catholic school, my grandparents, who are 90 years old today, raised me, I was in a very difficult situation”, he justified.
“Clearly, feminism changes lives and that’s what it exists for. After making these statements, I started to join the whole feminist struggle, in which I changed my way of thinking. It would be a total inconsistency if I were against and assume this ministry”, claimed the new minister, who said that her grandparents also changed their opinion on the subject and “to this day they always follow all feminist struggles” and “different issues related to diversity”.
In the 2018 interview, Mazzina had declared himself pro-life. “It is a complicated, difficult issue that has been discussed for a long time. I give my private view, it is an opinion that is exclusively my own: I am in favor of life, both the developing baby and the woman,” she said at the time. “This means that I am totally against the decriminalization of abortion.”
Convictions of Gazeta do Povo: Defense of life from conception
Mazzina’s change of position generated criticism on social networks. “Ayelen Mazzina said it would be inconsistent to be the Minister of Women and to be against abortion. I don’t understand. Because? Are all women green [cor que simboliza o movimento pró-aborto na Argentina]? Does she represent only a part or all of the women?”, wrote on Twitter the journalist Javier Lanari, from the news channel LN+.
The financial consultant and entrepreneur Patrick Kelly mocked the motivation of minister. “Nice shot by Ayelén Mazzina! Now she says feminism made her change her stance! Very convenient! Right after being appointed minister!”, he pinned.
At the end of 2020, when Alberto Fernández was already president, the Argentine Congress approved the legalization of abortion until the week of pregnancy.
