Candidate for deputy Lilia Lemoine, in her home in the Santa Rita neighborhood of Buenos Aires, August 24. Silvina Frydlewsky
The far-right party led by Javier Milei intends to destroy important social rights if it comes to power in Argentina. The last item included in the list is the obligation of parents to cover the costs of supporting a child – such as food, education, health, shelter and clothing, among others – until the child reaches adulthood. Candidate for the post of representative Lilia Lemoine believes that her first legislative proposal will give parents the opportunity to forego paternity and therefore not have to worry about the costs associated with raising the child. The proposal met with unanimous rejection from other political forces.
“It doesn’t seem fair to me that a man has to take financial responsibility for a child until he turns 18 and then doesn’t want him,” Lemoine said in a radio statement Tuesday. The bill he plans to introduce gives the pregnant person a two-week period to notify her partner: “If the woman finds out that she is pregnant, she has 15 days to notify the father, and the father may decide whether he will take responsibility for the child or not.”
This influencer and cosplayer, who was Milei’s makeup artist before she was included on her electoral lists, used an urban myth to defend the initiative: she said that there are women who pierce condoms before having a sexual relationship to get pregnant and “catch a guy”. . He also had no qualms about calling those who voluntarily terminate their pregnancies murderers, even though it has been legal since 2020. [eyaculá] “Should I take the pill inside or do they pierce a mucous membrane?” he argued.
“There are many women who do such things to tie a man up and take advantage of him in the middle of heat. My grandmother told me about it,” she added. When asked about the possibility that it was the man who did not use protection, Lemoine said that in this case it was a case of rape: “If the man doesn’t take care of himself and the woman realizes that If it is a rape, then she makes the complaint and takes the morning-after pill.
The La Libertad Avanza candidate’s comments sparked a flood of criticism, both from political parties and organizations promoting women’s rights.
The government described the bill announced by Lemoine as “nonsense” and recalled that it is a legal obligation of parents “to care for and support their minor children” as provided for in the Civil Code. Official representative Florencia Lampreabe rejected the values of Milei and her candidate Lemoine, whom she described as “flat-earthers, deniers, sexists, land sellers and family enemies.”
From the opposition alliance Together for Change, former governor María Eugenia Vidal took advantage of recent controversies to rename Milei’s party: “sale of organs, free carrying of weapons and a project to renounce paternity because “women pierce condoms.” They are delaying freedom.” The left also rejected the project via former MP Nathalia González: “What an atrocity! He is believed to be inventing something new, but he is 150 years behind schedule. The only freedom these people defend is to increase the oppression of women.”
The unfair thing, Lilia, is that there are 1 million 600,000 women who alone care for 3 million sons and daughters, and half of these boys and girls do not receive their parents’ maintenance quota. But don’t worry, we’re going to have a president who won’t leave you alone. pic.twitter.com/giBEHUNN53
— Ayelén Mazzina (@AyelenMazzina) October 17, 2023
Argentina’s official statistics agency (Indec) publishes a parent basket that determines the monthly cost of goods, services and care for each child and is used as a reference value in court rulings. According to the latest report, this basket costs around 100,000 pesos (almost $100).
According to the Minister of Women, Gender and Diversity, Ayelén Mazzina, there are 1.6 million women in Argentina who alone care for three million sons and daughters. “Half of these boys and girls do not receive support from their parents,” warned Mazzina. In the province of Buenos Aires, where Lemoine is running, the proportion of debtors on the food quota is almost 70%.
Argentine feminism mobilized on the streets against Milei a month ago. In recent days, prominent figures have called for Sunday’s elections to be stopped. The Ultra candidate denies the existence of a pay gap between men and women, which according to official figures is 27.7%, and believes that if he reaches the Casa Rosada he will push for the repeal of the abortion law and the education law. comprehensive sexual regulation in schools, among other regulations that have changed the lives of women in Argentina.