Uruguayan Bishops Consider Excommunication After Abortion Ruling

Montevideo (kath.net/KNA)  The Catholic Church in Uruguay has considered the excommunication of Parliamentarians according to the news daily 'El Observador' (Thursday),  which is being invoked because of the new abortion law.  "The automatic Excommunication succeeds if a person directly supports abortion, and this is direct support",  said the release of the General Secretary of the Uruguayan Bishops' Conference, Bishop Heriberto Bodeant.

The Senate of Uruguay passed a controversial abortion law on Wednesday.  Uruguay is, like Cuba and Guyana the third country in Latin America, which has legalized the termination of pregnancy in the first twelve weeks.  17 of 31 Senate members voted for the new ruling.  The decision was accompanied in the last weeks with a heated social debate.

The Bishops' Conference of the country spoke against the legal initiative of the governing left-leaning Party Frente Amplio.  A statement of the capital Archdiocese of Montevideo spoke of a "sad day for Uruguay" on Thursday.

Link to kath.net...