Abortion proponents subject to defamation lawsuits, says Catholic lawyer in Mexico

Mexico City, Mexico, Apr 13, 2007 / 09:19 am

The president of the College of Catholic Lawyers in Mexico, Armando Martinez, said this week the director of Catholics for a Free Choice, Consuelo Mejia, could be subject to a civil lawsuit for moral harm, calumny, and defamation if she does not provide proof for every accusation she has made against Cardinal Norberto Rivera of Mexico and his spokesman, Father Hugo Valdemar.

Martinez spoke in response to statements by Mejia, who has claimed that Church hierarchy is responsible for threatening emails which various pro-abortion organizations have been receiving.  “We are going to file a lawsuit over the threats we have received via email at various organizations,” she said.

Mr. Martinez challenged the pro-abortion leader to file a lawsuit against the author of the email for the supposed death threat.  If not, he said, the hierarchy would be within its right to sue for defamation.

The Church has done nothing more than maintain a consistent position in support of life and has nothing to do with attacks against abortion supporters or anyone else.  Such actions do not reflect the behavior of Father Hugo Valdemar or of any other member of the Catholic hierarchy,” Martinez said.

Father Valdemar, the spokesman for the Archdiocese of Mexico, condemned all aggression and threats of violence against abortion supporters and called on authorities to investigate the matter.

“The Archdiocese of Mexico is a religious association, tied to the Gospel, and thus the Archdiocese considers any threat or aggression to be unacceptable, regardless of what the ideology of the person to whom it is directed,” he stated.

Martinez said the Church hierarchy has not violated any law by speaking out about abortion, since most actions to stop its legalization have been carried out by pro-life groups and Catholic lawyers.