BUENOS AIRES, March 6, 2002 (LSN.ca) – The Supreme Court of Argentina ruled yesterday (Tuesday, March 05, 2002) that the “morning after pill” known as “Imediat”, produced by the Argentinian laboratory Gador, may not be manufactured, distributed or sold in Argentina because the pill acts as an abortifacient and therefore violates the Constitutional protection of human life “from the moment of conception”.
The decision was the result of a court case brought by a pro-life organization, Portal de Belen (Stable of Bethlehem), which argued that the authorization previously given for the drug by the Ministry of Health was unconstitutional. The Court agreed and ordered the Ministry to suspend the authorization.
Jorge Scala, one of the Argentinian lawyers who successfully argued the case, was extremely pleased with the decision and said this sets the stage to quickly prohibit the manufacture, distribution, and sale of similar abortifacient drugs in Argentina. Dan Zeidler, representative for the Caracas-based Latin American Alliance for the Family, commented, “It is a great day for the unborn in Argentina! Once again we see the great richness of the Latin American legal system where wonderful pro-life protections exist and where virtually all countries’ constitutions, civil, penal, and juvenile codes provide useful and practical mechanisms to protect life before as well as after birth.”