Lima, Peru, Sep 18, 2006 / 22:00 pm
A federal court in Lima has recognized the anti-implantation effect of the morning-after pill in a ruling that, at least temporarily, upholds an order to suspend the free distribution of the drug, in public hospitals.
The ruling recognizes what the drug manufactures have already admitted, namely that one of the mechanisms of the morning-after pill is to prevent implantation of a newly fertilized fetus in the uterine wall. This makes the drug potentially abortifacient in the eyes of Peruvian law—a fact that has been repeatedly denied by the country’s Health Minister, Pilar Mazzetti, who authorized the distribution of the drug. Peru’s constitution protects unborn humans from the moment of conception.
The September 6th ruling upholds a lower court’s decision to halt the distribution of the drug until its abortifacient mechanism could be ruled out. The Health Ministry appealed that ruling.
The federal court in Lima issued a 2-1 decision upholding the lower court’s decision and recognizing the anti-implantation mechanism of the drug.
A final hearing on the issue has been set for October 27.