Colombia to include abortion pills in “family planning” programs

Apr 15, 2004 / 22:00 pm

The debate over the morning after pill has reached Colombia where, as in Peru and Chile, anti-life groups—with the support of government health authorities—want the abortifacient drug to be included in family planning programs.

Media outlets in Colombia are giving ample time to supporters of the pill who are attempting to hide its abortifacient nature by claiming that only the Church believes the pill has such effects, a tactic that has become common in many countries where the drug is being promoted.

The Social Protection Ministry announced that governors and mayors should set aside funds for the purchase of the so-called emergency contraceptive and distribute it even among teenagers.

The deceptively named Profamilia organization (“Profamily”), which works for the legalization of abortion, is pressuring to have the drug included claiming it will reduce unwanted pregnancies.  The group has won the support of the Assistant Health Minister, Eduardo Alvarado.

The Secretary General of the Colombian Bishops Conference, Bishop Fabián Marulanda, explained that the Church will always reject this drug as abortifacient, adding that in the climate of “permissiveness, laxity and eroticism” of today’s society, it is wrong to tell young people they can use this method without warning them of the risks.

“It is not a contraceptive, because it is taken after one has had sexual relations during which fertilization may have taken place.  If it has, the pill prevents implantation and is thus abortifacient.  To call it a contraceptive is a linguistic trick in order to not have to say what it is in reality,” said Bishop Marulanda.