Morning After Pill Prohibited by Argentine Province
Reported July 02, 2007
TIERRA DEL FUEGO, ARGENTINA, July 2, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A judge in the province of Tierra del Fuego in Argentina has ruled that the sale of the “morning after pill” is illegal, because it causes abortions.
Judge Guillermo Penza of Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, reportedly issued his ruling in response to a suit brought by the public defender of Ushuaia, Julián De Martino, against the province.
The ruling follows a similar ruling in 2007 by Judge María Rapossi, of the same jurisdiction, who prohibited the use of the pill in public hospitals. The new ruling extends that prohibition to private medical care as well.
Although the Argentine Constitution does not mention abortion explicitly, it has historically been interpreted to prohibit the practice. The law, however, provides no penalties for abortions in cases in which the life or health of the mother is threatened, or if the unborn child was conceived in the rape of a mentally disabled woman.
In recent years, under President Nestor Kirchner, the government’s Ministry of Health has supported further decriminalization of abortion, and a current in the Argentine congress has pushed for the change.
Kirchner’s health minister, Ginés González García, contested the 2007 decision but was rebuffed by the Supreme Court.
Kirchner’s successor, Kristina Fernandez de Kirchner, has stated her opposition to abortion and her cabinet ministers have shown little inclination to support it.