Pro-life NGO rejects court ruling in favor of ‘professional right’ to hide abortion

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jul 11, 2008 / 15:23 pm

The president of the Argentinean pro-life NGO “Pro-Vida,” Dr. Roberto Castellano, issued a statement this week strongly rejecting a recent court ruling against a doctor who revealed that a woman he was treating at the Santojanni Hospital had undergone an illegal abortion.

The court ruled that the doctor had learned of the abortion while treating the patient and that therefore knowledge of the act was covered by “professional confidentiality,” which he was not free to violate.
According to Dr. Castellano, the mentality behind the court’s ruling “greatly ignores the right of the victim, in this case, the right to life of the aborted child. While it is true that the judges have acted after the events occurred, it is no less true that the social message being sent is that undergoing an abortion could be considered ‘a pregnant woman’s choice’ that is totally subordinate to her wishes.”

Professional confidentiality, he explained, “does not include covering up crimes,” and he warned that when judges do not respect the country’s law, “a reign of legal and moral insecurity takes hold.  At a time when there is so much talk about human rights and the role of the courts in protecting them, this ruling undermines it and lets the death of an absolutely innocent and defenseless baby go unpunished.”