This article analyzes the woman-embryo conflict discussed by the Uruguayan Senate during the debates on abortion legalization in October and November 2007. Its aim is to show the underlying notions, which are classified as those that promote the 'patrimonial control over the body' and those that promote autonomy. From that perspective, it analyzes the abstract or concrete standpoint given to abortion in the Senators arguments. Then, it discusses the personhood assigned to zef (zygote-embryo-fetus) based on biomedical arguments. It also discusses the attribute of moral person given/or not to the pregnant woman. Finally it shows that abortion is basically a fact that influences directly in the organization of social relations.
Abortion; Personhood; Parliament