Health Care, Law & Justice

Petition to ban therapeutic abortions dismissed

Photo pregnant woman in sunset by Pixabay (Sasin Tipchai)
Reference image of Sasin Tipchai on Pixabay

A petition to stop the Ministry of Health from implementing its Therapeutic Abortion Protocol in state health centers nationwide has been declared unjustified by Judge David Suarez in the First Special Constitutional Court  of the Superior Court of Lima.

In his statement on the ruling, Judge Suarez said that “no human right is absolute and these may be restricted or displaced when they come into conflict with other protected constitutional rights or possessions, as would be the case of an abortion, where the right to life of the conceived comes into conflict with the right to life and health of the pregnant woman.”

The petition was filed by the non-government organization ALA Sin Componenda (Action against Corruption without Compromise), stating that the medical conditions designated in the protocol had been imposed “arbitrarily” and were “unconstitutional.” The protocol, added the petition, also exceeded the legal reasoning for Art. 119 of the Criminal Code, which states that therapeutic abortion is not a crime.

Therapeutic abortions became legal in 2014, for cases when the mother’s life is at risk or if continuing the pregnancy to term would cause grave and permanent damage to her health.

The abortion may be performed if medical conditions meet one of 11 high-risk diagnoses, including ectopic pregnancy, malignant tumor, and neurological lesions. The decision to approve or deny the procedure must be made by a medical board of three specialists, including an ob/gyn, who must report their decision within six days of the patient’s evaluation.  The protocol also requires that the abortion be performed within the first 22 weeks of the pregnancy.

However, Judge Suarez clarified that “The Protocol does not open the doors to include causalities not contemplated by Art. 119 of the Criminal Code.”

The Morning-After Pill to be provided free of charge after 15 years

Last week, the same First Special Constitutional Court ruled that the Health Ministry must provide Levonorgestrel, the emergency contraceptive known as the morning-after pill, free of charge at its health centers. This ratifies a protective order the Ministry obtained in 2016, following more than a decade in which it was prohibited from doing so.

In 2004, ALA Sin Componenda filed a petition against the distribution by the Ministry of Health. Although the petition was not admitted in the Superior Court, a second appeal to the Constitutional Tribunal did annul the Health Ministry’s right to provide the pill free of charge at its health centers. The Constitutional Court did not prohibit the pill outright on the grounds that it was not proven that the pill had an abortive effect, and so the pill has been sold over the counter.  Critics said this directly affected women who used state medical facilities becaue they could not afford private health care or buy the pill at private drugstores.

The ruling on Therapeutic Abortion can be read at this Scribd link.

One Comment

  1. It is good to see that Peru is not at a ‘standstill’ on the question of abortion. Discussion is extremely important. However, Peru must always steer away from the liberal American and European attitudes on abortion or the killing of the unborn. It is certainly true that the mother’s life comes first and should be protected by law. The idea of assessing when the destruction of the unborn is necessary is very important. But under no circumstances should Peruvians fall for the ruse that the destruction of the unborn is a personal matter and must be left to the woman, as in ‘it’s a woman’s right.’ The killing of any human before birth or after birth except under certain circumstances is unconscionable and should not be permitted as is done in Europe and North America. This battle is a very intense one. The so-called developed world would like to see a reduction of the human population at huge levels, so abortion or the killing of the young is accepted by them as one of those ways of reducing the earth’s population. Please let’s not go there. We pray for Peru that it will be a light in South America. God bless you.

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