Contraceptives banned

last updated 8 January 2015

Cordoba, Argentina

A federal judge in Cordoba has banned the use of birth-control pills and intrauterine devices, or IUDs. Judge Cristina Garzon de Lascano ruled that the pill and IUDs were “abortive” in nature, and abortion is illegal in Argentina. She ordered stocks of the products destroyed. A Roman Catholic priest, Fernando Altamira, had asked the court to impose the ban. “This is a miracle,” he said after the ruling. Health Minister Gines Gonzalez Garcia called the judge’s decision “absurd,” the daily Clarin reported, and she vowed to have it overturned. The contraceptives are used by 2.5 million women, she said. “To take away such medication would be a health catastrophe.”