International Representatives Release Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism

On Wednesday in Buenos Aires, Argentina, representatives of 36 nations and international organizations, including U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, released a set of legally nonbinding Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism (full text). Thursday was the 30th anniversary of the 1994 Hizballah bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) in Buenos Aires in which 85 people were killed. On Thursday, Secretary of State Blinken issued a statement (full text) announcing the Guidelines, saying in part:

The United States is pleased to play a leadership role, together with the European Union, the Organization of American States, the Government of Argentina, and other governments and international bodies, in advancing these guidelines and we invite others across the international community to endorse and implement them.  The Guidelines identify practical actions that governments, international bodies, civil society organizations, and people of conscience everywhere can take against antisemitism wherever and whenever it occurs.

Argentina Legislature Votes To Legalize Early Term Abortion

As reported by NPR, Argentina's Senate yesterday voted 38-29 (with one abstention) to approve the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Bill which allows abortions during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. The Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of  Argentina's Congress, approved the bill on Dec. 11 by a vote of 131-117 (with 6 abstentions). Argentine President Alberto Fernández says he will sign the bill. Last month, Pope Francis wrote opponents of the bill expressing his opposition to the legislation. (ABC News).

Argentinian Court Dismisses Transgender Man's Suit Against Catholic Church That Reused To Change His Name On Records

Church Militant reports on a lawsuit in Argentina by a transgender man who contends that Archbishop Mario Cargnello is required by Argentina's Gender Identity Law to change his name on Church baptismal and confirmation records.  When in 2018 the archbishop refused, activist Alba Rueda sued. A lower court dismissed the case saying it is a religious matter. On Nov. 14, an appeals court affirmed the dismissal. Rueda plans to take the case to the country's Supreme Court.