The Ministry of Health responds to a request for information on the implementation of the ILE in Córdoba
After the request for information presented in October, the Ministry of Health provided data on the implementation of the Legal Interruption of Pregnancy in the province, starting from the entry into force of the local protocol that had been suspended.
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With the fall of the precautionary measure that suspended the application of the provincial guide for the care of non-punishable abortions, the health services of the province of Córdoba began to guarantee the practice in those cases where the pregnancy was the result of rape, or implied a risk to the life or health of the pregnant person, as indicated in art. 86 of the Penal Code.
As indicated in the response sent on December 3, 2020, from September 1, 2019 (the court case was terminated on the 24th of that month) until November 30, 2020, a total of 949 were registered in the province. Legal Interruption of Pregnancy practices: 112 correspond to 2019 and 837 to 2020.
Of this total, the most invoked cause was the risk to comprehensive health, for which 906 practices were carried out (96%). Because it was a risk to life, 20 practices were carried out (2%). The causal violation was invoked in a total of 22 practices (the other 2%).
ILE quantity
From September 2019 to November 2020
With regard to training and training instances, the agency reported that 6 weekly virtual meetings were held by the National Directorate of Sexual and Reproductive Health of the Ministry of Health of the Nation (in June and July 2020), and 1 meeting virtual organized by the National Directorate of Sexual and Reproductive Health, articulated with the Provincial Program Maternity and Responsible Paternity, in June 2020.
Regarding the purchase and distribution of medicines and supplies to carry out the practice, the Ministry reported that in 2019, 135 misoprostol treatments were used, all from the National Directorate, and in 2020 a total of 1,248. among which 698 come from the National Directorate or clearing operations with other provinces, and 550 were purchased directly by the provincial Ministry.
Incomplete information
Despite having responded to the request for information, the Ministry of Health failed to answer all the questions regarding how conscientious objection operates by health professionals and how referrals for this reason are in practice. It also did not answer questions related to the budget for these services.
It is not the first time that the Ministry of Health fails to comply with a request for access to public information. In 2019, after submitting a request on the same issue, the Administration only responded after we went to court, through an injunction for delay. Even so, the information that he presented in the context of the file was incomplete, so we continue to demand before the courts that he fulfill his duty to provide public information in a timely manner.
The province of silence
There were 7 years in which the local guide to access abortion for reasons contemplated in the Penal Code was suspended. During all that time, pregnant people who needed to access the practice had to do so in health centers in other jurisdictions or, directly, in hiding. It was the feminist networks that generated channels to refer cases and assist them despite the judicial blockade.
Today the new law 27,610 on Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy is in force throughout the national territory. With its publication in the Official Gazette on January 18, and having entered into force on January 24, it is striking that the Ministry of Health of Córdoba has not yet ruled on the matter. No public statement has yet been made on how the province’s health services will be organized for law enforcement purposes.
But the right to interrupt the pregnancy freely until the 14th week of gestation, along with abortion for reasons, is enforceable and must be guaranteed in Córdoba and throughout the country.
More information
Contact
- Mayca Balaguer, maycabalaguer@fundeps.org
