By Gudrun Schultz
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, August 1, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An Argentinean Catholic University has stepped forward in an attempt to save the life of an unborn child threatened with abortion, Catholic News Agency reported today, following coverage by the AICA news agency.
AICA news reported that the Catholic University of La Plata has offered to take full responsibility for the baby of a handicapped woman whose parents want her to abort the child.
University rector Ricardo De la Torre wrote to the Supreme Court of Buenos Aires province, offering “to help the young woman in all her needs and to assume responsibility for the child after his birth if the family of the young woman should decide they don’t want him or cannot raise him.”
“I also offer her counselling from our Department of Legal Medicine free of charge, as well as free medical care from health professionals at the University which I represent,” he said.
“It is also the will of our Institution to provide the necessary means for collaborating as well in the adoption of the baby by another family if that be the decision of the young woman’s parents.”
The parents of the 19 year-old woman are seeking permission from the court for an abortion—the woman’s pregnancy is the result of rape.
The Argentine Constitution recognizes the humanity of the unborn child “from the moment of conception.” Abortion is illegal except for rare cases of rape, or to save the life of the mother. Abortion advocacy groups are exerting pressure on the court to grant the parents’ request, CNA reported.
International abortion activist groups have increasingly targeted Argentina over the Catholic nation’s pro-life stance. Argentina is now considering changing the law to allow first-trimester abortions as part of an ongoing revision to the Argentine penal code. Church leaders and academics in the country are fighting the proposal as unconstitutional and against the teaching of the Catholic Church.
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Argentina Considers Legalizing First-Trimester Abortion
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06052603.html