Peruvian bishops protest plan to distribute morning-after pill

Published: 2004-04-08

LIMA, Peru (CNS) -- Peruvian bishops are protesting a plan that would allow government-run clinics to distribute the morning-after pill as a family-planning method. The pill has been available in Peruvian pharmacies for more than two years, but not at government-run medical facilities. In December, a government commission said the pill should be made available. In an April 2 statement, the bishops said that the pill, because it prevents an egg from being implanted in a woman's uterus, is an abortifacient. The bishops used both moral and constitutional arguments in their statement, saying that the proposed distribution of the pill through public clinics would "further deteriorate our society's moral foundation." They also said that Peru's constitution provides protection for human beings at the moment of conception.

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