It has been revealed that ‘pro-choice’ champion and former president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, who was responsible for the introduction of an extreme abortion law to the country, allegedly forced his wife Fabiola Yáñez, to have an abortion.
The claims came during an investigation earlier this month in which former journalist and actress Fabiola Yáñez accused the former president of psychological threats and physical aggression during their relationship between 2014 and 2024.
During her testimony from the Argentinan consulate in Madrid, Yáñez, 43, accused the former President of ‘reproductive violence’ by forcing her to have an abortion when she became pregnant in 2016.
Yáñez said she felt ‘joy’ and ‘surprise’ on discovering her pregnancy until she told Fernández the news.
However, she explained that Fernández urged her to have an abortion, which she considers to have been “the worst decision”.
According to Yáñez, Fernández told her “We have to sort it out, you have to have an abortion”.
In her evidence, Yáñez said that Fernández “ignore[d]” her completely. She said “This time regarding our unborn child, he told me, ‘This can’t happen, I’m in shock'”.
Yáñez ultimately had the abortion.
Abortion became legal in Argentina in December 2020 following a campaign led by Fernández.
Pressure in the public eye
Fabiola Yáñez is not the first woman in the public eye to have shared stories about being under pressure to have abortions. Italian actress Ornella Muti revealed in an interview from 2022 that she was pressured by her agent to have an abortion when she became pregnant at 18. Female athletes, including former Olympians, have spoken up about being pressured into abortion, and the late Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor revealed in 2021 that she was encouraged to have an abortion by a record producer and doctor. She recalls a doctor saying “Your record company has spent £100,000 recording your album. You owe it to them not to have this baby”.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “Fabiola Yáñez has shown great courage in speaking out about the pressure she was put under to have an abortion”.
“Fernández, however, behaved in an utterly self-serving manner and apparently pushed the mother of his child into making the choice he wanted. Not only did he allegedly pressure his partner into having an abortion, but he played a pivotal role in introducing abortion into Argentina”.
