Vice Minister of Health in Peru promotes plan to make abortion available

Lima, Peru, May 10, 2007 / 11:07 am

Peru’s Vice Minister of Health, Jose Calderon, told a congressional committee this week that his office would propose a bill that would legalize "therapeutic abortion" in the country.

The Congressional News Service said the Ministry of Health was expected to propose a plan to "effectively manage therapeutic abortion with express measures to avoid the high indices of abortions and unwanted pregnancies in the country."

One of the measures in the proposal would allow teens to have access to contraceptives without the consent of their parents. Officials claimed this would be "an effective way to avoid abortions and unwanted pregnancies."

Janet Ramos of the Legal Committee of the Latin American Alliance for the Family warned Catholics, "We must be attentive and not fall prey to the manipulation of information by the Vice minister of Health. In Peru, therapeutic abortion, although it is not punishable by law, continues to be a crime. In no way is it a right."

Ramos said the vice minister was acting outside the law by promoting abortion and she called on Peruvians to contact the Ministry of Health (cvallejos@minsa.gob.pe) to express their disapproval.