Tegucigalpa, Nov 3, 2009 / 07:26 pm (CNA).- A new law has taken effect in Honduras prohibiting the consumption and marketing of the morning-after pill in the Central American country.

The law was passed by the Honduran Congress at the beginning of the year with backing from the Medical College of Honduras, which pointed out that the pill has an abortifacient effect making it unconstitutional.

The Honduran Congress argued that the drug would “gravely endanger the health of the Honduran population, especially women who are able to get pregnant.”

Lawmakers pointed to a 2008 report by the Medical College of Honduras that warned of the drug’s anti-implantation effect, making it an abortifacient.  The new law prohibits “the promotion, consumption, sale and purchasing of the emergency contraceptive pill, as well as its distribution, whether for sale or free-of-charge.”

Commenting on the historic decision, which is similar to measures taken by other countries in the region, Carlos Polo, Latin American director of the Population Research Institute, told CNA that this decision is “a milestone for another Latin American country” saying that Honduras has freed itself from the pressures of  pharmaceutical companies and feminist organizations.

“In Latin America, where abortion is illegal, the only option left for the promoters of this pill was to misinform the people by denying the so-called ‘third effect.’  Now we see that pressure and misinformation can last a while but in the end, deceit fails on its own. We will certainly see the morning-after pill eradicated from Latin America, thus freeing ourselves from an inoperative and costly method that has grave adverse effects for women,” Polo said.

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