Santiago, Chile, Apr 22, 2008 / 09:40 am
The president of the Chilean Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Alejandro Goic, lamented this week that some mayors together with the Ministry of Health are looking for ways to disregard the ruling by the Constitutional Court that ordered the suspension of distribution of the morning-after pill.
In statements to Radio Cooperativa, the bishop said it was inappropriate for the drug to be sold or distributed “as long as the scientific community cannot come to an agreement and emphatically state” that it is not abortifacient.
“It is troublesome that they are inciting disobedience to a ruling,” the bishop said, pointing as well to the “problem of economic imperialism of international organizations that give millions of dollars and Euros to the different NGOs of the world, especially in Chile.”
According to Radio Cooperativa, the mayors are awaiting a legal analysis of the high court’s ruling to decide whether or not to ratify the distribution of the drug free-of-charge so as to avoid the prohibition in force in the public health system.