Dr. Pilar Mazzetti, current Health Ministress of Peru, was caught in her lies. After two years of hearing from her that the morning-after pill (MAP) is not an abortifacient, PRI’s Latin American office exposed her promotion of abortion through a norm creating a new protocol of “therapeutic” abortions.
New Pro-Abortion Push
Dr. Victor Bazul, Director of the Peruvian Perinatal and Maternal Care Institute, went to the Peruvian Catholic Bishops Conference for help. He was being pressured by some officials on behalf of Mazzetti. Dr. Bazul was given a text to sign. The text contained a new protocol, including several medical conditions that would justify the performance of abortions. According to Peruvian law, abortion is a crime, but there is no penalty when it is the only way to save the life of the mother or to avoid a severe and permanent disease. The new protocol sought to expand those exceptions to Peru’s abortion prohibition without explicitly overturning Peruvian law.
This pro-abortion attempt was well-planned. First, the Peruvian Perinatal and Maternal Care Institute is the premiere hospital of this type in Peru. A new protocol adopted there would become the norm nationwide — a perfect shortcut avoiding the Congress, where pro-abortion bills have always failed. It also would avoid a directive from the Health Ministry itself, because that would stir up political trouble. Just a month or so ago, the Peruvian union of physicians asked President Toledo to remove Dr. Mazzetti, who is struggling to remain in charge for the next and final three months of the Toledo Administration.
Looking for Scandal
Dr. Bazul is a gynecologist whose opposition to abortion and MAP is very well-known. A new protocol expanding the use of abortion coming from his desk would provide a good argument for pro-abortion organizations. So pro-abortion forces began rooting around for any scandal to use against Bazul.
Bishop Juan José Larraneta, General Secretary of the Peruvian Bishops Conference, called me to participate in a meeting with Dr. Bazul. The main challenge in facing this pro-life crisis was not to mention Dr. Bazul as a source in order to avoid reprisals against him. How could we denounce Mazzetti and the imminent attack on the unborn?
PRI Latin America Helps
The PRI Latin American office took this chance to expose her intentions to the media. We went to the principal Peruvian radio station and a local newspaper. We explained, and showed some documents in which some radical feminist groups had expressed their intention to create a new protocol of “legal” abortions in Peru. They argued that the Peruvian government had to fulfill a United Nation Human Rights Commission recommendation to decriminalize abortion. It was related to the case sponsored by the Center for Reproductive Rights to destroy the legal protection of the unborn in Latin America. Not long ago, Dr. Mazzetti had stated this case would shock and change the legal system.
A few days later, bishops visited President Toledo. They showed him PRI’s denunciation to the media and the text given by Dr. Bazul. President Toledo immediately called Dr. Mazzetti in front of the bishops and ordered her to stop any project of new regulation of abortion. He said he would not let a pro-abortion norm be promulgated by his administration. He asked the bishops to let him know if something bad happened to Dr. Bazul.
The Work Continues
Now, we are working against Dr. Mazzetti’s counterattack. Dr. Mazzetti has announced she has established a committee to study a protocol of “therapeutic” abortion. But now she is up against President Toledo’s decision and the opposition of the Peruvian bishops.
