The ex-wife of Alberto Fernández, the former president of Argentina, has accused him of abuse, including coercing her to have an abortion.
Fabiola Yáñez, Argentina’s former first lady, testified for four hours from Madrid in the gender violence case brought against Fernández. According to prosecutors, Fernández is guilty of causing “grievous bodily harm” to Yáñez, and making “coercive threats” against her.
Yáñez claims that while living in the presidential residence near Buenos Aires, Fernández allegedly subjected her to psychological abuse, and physically assaulted her numerous times. “We had argued before, a lot, as was usual, and as a closing of the argument, he hit me from his side of the bed with a terrible blow from the fist,” she said in a written statement. Photographs introduced in the trial showed Yáñez with a black eye.
Yáñez also said Fernández forced her to have an abortion in 2016, while it was still illegal. She described this as “reproductive violence.”
Fernández denies all of Yáñez’ claims. “I am being accused of something I have not done. I have not hit Fabiola. I have never hit a woman,” he said. “For four years I was president of this country and I promoted gender policies and I know that in cases like this the burden of proof is reversed and the man is presumed guilty and has to prove his innocence. I am going to prove it. What I’m going to do is wait, go to the justice system and let the justice system resolve it.”
While president, Fernández vowed to legalize abortion by 2020, despite the fact that much of Argentina is pro-life. The senate complied, voting to legalize abortion for any reason through 14 weeks gestation. By 14 weeks, preborn children are already well-developed, and can likely feel pain.
Thousands mobilized against the push to legalize abortion, and Pope Francis, who is from Argentina, publicly expressed his opposition. In his statements, Pope Francis compared abortion to hiring a hitman to kill an innocent person.
Fernández’ successor, Javier Milei, also decried the legalization of abortion, saying that “[o]ne of the most fundamental aspects [of true liberalism] is to defend the right to life.”
