Santiago, Chile, Jun 7, 2004 / 22:00 pm
The Health Ministry of Chile has officially put sanctions on hold against mayors who refuse to distribute the controversial morning after pill, thus putting an end to threats by the Minister of Health, Pedro Garcia, against pro-life local leaders.
The newspaper El Mercurio quotes Undersecretary Antonio Infante, who said, “After several days of uncertainty and analysis in the Ministry,” the possibility of applying sanctions against mayors such as Marta Ehlers ok Lo Barnechea, Manuel José Ossandón of Puente Alto, Roberto Sepúlveda of Maipú, Cristián Labbé of Providencia, Jacqueline Van Rysselberghe of Concepción and Carolina Plaza of Huechuraba, was lifted. All had refused to distribute the pill in their municipalities.
At the beginning of the controversy Garcia had said that no mayor would be allowed to prevent distribution of the drug and he threatened sanctions and the withdrawal of funding from mayors who refused to follow the directives.
According to the Notivida News Agency, “What the socialist government of Chile portrayed as a rebellion was nothing more than the legitimate exercise of the right to conscientious objection.”