A great victory for the cause of Life was won in Peru, thanks to the tireless efforts of Carlos Polo, Director of PRI’s Latin American Office.
Due to a 2004 ruling by the Constitutional Court of Peru, the Morning After Pill (MAP) has been legal in Peru for over five years. The Minister of Health at the time, Pilar Mazzetti, had asserted that the absence of any anti-implantatory mechanism was an established fact. At that time Mazzetti based his argument on a report signed by Dr. Luis Orozco Tavara, which fraudulently quoted seven scientific studies. Mazzetti has since been removed from office, and now faces charges for misleading Congress.
Judges of Peru’s Constitutional Court considered that the right to life of the conceived child could be affected “on the grounds that the absence of abortive effect, the inhibition of implantation of the fertilized ovum in the endometrium, has not been proven.” Not surprisingly,
they had to look no further than the insert included with the MAR put there by the drug manufacturer, which clearly states that the “pregnancy prevention” happens because the zygote is prevented from implanting in the uterus. As Peru has a law defending the right to life of each of her citizens, beginning at the moment of conception, this abortifacient drug has now been banned throughout the entire country.
