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South America Argentina DECRIMINALIZATION OF ABORTION? On December 12, a bill to legalize abortions passed a key “yes” vote by politicians in Argentina. This decision, seen as controversial by many, including the Roman Catholic Church, was made in the Parliament’s lower house. It may be trailblazing for the predominantly Catholic continent and further needs to be approved by the Senate. "I am a Catholic but I have to legislate for everyone," President Fernández said. "It is a very serious public health issue." In the past, the South American country not only restricted access to contraceptives drastically, but outlawed abortions altogether, leaving women without a say in their reproductive decisions. Women and those aiding the abortion procedure face severe consequences in form of long prison sentences with the law only waiving punishement when the woman’s life in in danger or when the pregnancy is a result of rape of a mentally disabled women. Human Rights Watch stated that an estimated half million unsafe abortions were performed each year, deeming access to legal abortions “almost nonexistent in practice.” Both criminalization and inaccessibility lead to the infringement of women’s rights as well as creating public health issue, the Senate now has the chance to pave the way for safe and legal abortions and an improvement of women’s rights, setting an example for other countries still imposing bans. © Clker/Pixabay
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Space GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR MUSK Realities of Private Space Endeavours On December 9, SpaceX put their Starship rocket prototype to trial, starlaunchign it from Boca Chica Beach in South Texas. It exploded, but the effort was deemed as a “huge leap towards Mars.” Only a few days later, they successfully launched a digital audio satellite into the orbit for a SiriusXM, a US-American radio channel, leaving the world in awe of what may be possible in the nottoo-far-away future. In summer 2020, Elon Musk’s company SpaceX made history by becoming the first-ever private company to transport people into space. The two
