Friday May 14, 2010
Colombian Doctor Fined and Suspended for Refusing to do an Abortion
By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent
BOGOTÁ, May 13, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The executive branch of the Colombian government is seeking to overturn the conviction of a doctor who refused to perform an abortion in 2008 on a mentally handicapped girl.
Dr. Germán Arango Rojas says he only saw the girl a single time and refused to do the abortion for reasons of conscience. He was convicted despite the fact that he was never allowed to present a defense.
Arango Rojas’ conviction was upheld by courts in the province of Caldas, and he was fined and suspended from medical practice.
The case has come to light in recent days because of a decision by the government's lead attorney, the procurator, to contest the verdict with the Constitutional Court, the same court that struck down criminal penalties for the killing of unborn children in rape and fetal deformity cases in 2006. All other abortions continue to be penalized in Colombia.
Colombia's executive branch under Alvaro Uribe has been supportive of the Supreme Court's decision and has fined at least one Catholic hospital for refusing to do an abortion. In this case the doctor is being defended, not because of an opposition to abortion or even support of his rights of conscience, but rather because he was not allowed to defend himself.
Procurator Alejandro Ordóñez Maldonado says that the sentence is "a manifest violation of the fundamental rights to justice, equality, and due process," and says the doctor was convicted "in the abstract," without sufficient evidence.
Although the Uribe administration has shown hostility to the right to life in recent years, the actions being taken in Dr. Arango Rojas' defense may reflect a new, more pro-life policy in the Uribe administration and in the Colombian government as a whole.
In November of last year, Colombia's Council of State nullified a decree by the Supreme Court to require all hospitals to maintain a doctor on staff to perform abortions. In December Ordóñez Maldonado also demanded that the "morning after pill" be removed from sale in the country due to its abortifacient effects.
Related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Colombia's Inspector General Demands Morning-After Pill Be Taken Off Market
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/dec/09120808.html
Colombian Council Suspends Court Decree Forcing Catholic Hospitals to Provide Abortions
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/nov/09111114.html
Colombian Government Fines Catholic Hospital for Refusing to Perform Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/may/09051215.html
Colombia's Attorney General Pushes Catholic Hospitals to Provide Abortions
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08051201.html
Colombian Court Legalizes Abortion – Beachhead for Activists in Latin America
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06051503.html
