Silvia Beatriz Elías de Pérez (born 10 May 1964) is an Argentine politician who was a National Senator for Tucumán Province from 2013 to 2021. A member of the Radical Civic Union (UCR), Elías de Pérez first took office on 18 December 2013 in replacement of José Manuel Cano, and completed the remainder of his term until 2015. She was then elected in her own right in that year's election.
On 18 December 2013, she was sworn in as senator in replacement of Cano, who had been elected to the National Chamber of Deputies.[9] Elías de Pérez then completed the remainder of his 2009–2015 term. She sought re-election in the 2015 elections, and ran as the first candidate in the Cambiemos list in Tucumán. The Cambiemos list received 35.35%, and, as the second-most voted list, received the seat for the minority.[3][10] That year, she was elected vice-president of the National Committee of the UCR.[11]
As senator, Elías de Pérez formed part of the parliamentary commissions on Justice and Criminal Affairs, Budget and Finances, Health, Women's Affairs, Media and Freedom of Expression, and National Economy and Investment. She was president of the health commission from 2014 to 2018, and later served as chair of the national economy commission from 2018 to 2021.[3]
In 2018, during the first debate on the legalisation of abortion in Argentina, Elías de Pérez had a widely publicised argument with molecular biologist Alberto Kornblihtt during the latter's exposition in the Senate health commission.[14] At the end of Kornblihtt's presentation, Elías de Pérez asked him if he advocated for the use of abortion for eugenic purposes, such as to avoid the birth of children with Down's syndrome. Kornblihtt replied that genetic counseling contemplated the detection of serious illnesses in fetuses, and that Down's syndrome does not constitute a serious illness.[15] The exchange, and Kornblihtt's reply to Elías de Pérez ("no está bien, está mal"), became popular on social media.[16] Elías de Pérez voted against the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Bill again when it was debated by the Senate in 2020.[17]
In May 2020, Elías de Pérez had another widely publicised exchange with Vice President (and Senate president) Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. When Elías de Pérez referred to Fernández de Kirchner as "presidente", Fernández de Kirchner (who famously prefers to be referred by the less common, but still grammatically correct female form, presidenta) referred to Elías de Pérez by the unambiguously male term senador, instead of the female senadora.[18][19]