Lima, Peru, Oct 23, 2009 / 21:22 pm
Peru’s Constitutional Court has ruled against the distribution of the “morning-after pill” at public health care facilities because the abortifacient effect of the drug has not been ruled out.
According to the public relations office of the Court, the justices hold that “the inexistence of the abortifacient effect, the inhibition of the implantation of the fertilized ovum in the endometrium, has not been demonstrated.”
The court accepted the arguments of various NGOs after evaluating the arguments presented by national and international institutions and found that supporters of the pill could not prove that it does not affect the right to life of the unborn, which is protected by the Peruvian Constitution.
The court's ruling bans the free distribution of the morning-after pill in public health care facilities, however the drug can still be sold in pharmacies as long as consumers are provided with information on the drug’s potential abortifacient nature.