Argentine church dismayed over free morning-after pill, says official

Published: 2007-03-07

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (CNS) -- Catholic Church leaders in Argentina are dismayed over the government's decision to distribute the morning-after pill for free in public hospitals, said a church official. "We were surprised, and we regret the move," said Father Ruben Revello, coordinator of the Institute of Bioethics at the Catholic University of Argentina. He told Catholic News Service March 6 that he was taken aback by the decision because a legal complaint by a nongovernmental organization that the drug's packaging described it falsely as only having a contraceptive effect remained unresolved. Father Revello said the church would continue to press its position that the morning-after pill "does have an abortive effect, and we are basing that on scientific studies."

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