Sunday, October 11, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
RIGHTS-ARGENTINA: Catholic School Uncharitable with Pregnant Girl
Marcela Valente
- The barriers imposed on a pregnant adolescent who wants to continue her studies at a Catholic school has sparked dispute in Argentina, a country where sex education is nearly non-existent and abortion is illegal.
“In Argentina, abortion is a crime, but there are 400,000 to 500,000 performed every year,” said Dr. Diana Galimberti, president of the Argentine Association of Sexual and Reproductive Health, which hosted a conference over the weekend with participants coming from Latin America and Spain.
Galimberti told IPS that the lack of access to sex education and to contraceptives means that 17 percent of pregnancies in the country involve women under age 19.
“In 1998 seven minors died from abortions and 17 perished during pregnancy or while giving birth,” she pointed out.
The doctor believes that instead of rejecting the young woman, the school should take advantage of the situation to underscore that children born to mothers under age 15 have an infant mortality rate double that of children born to women over that age.
The case stands in contrast to that of other girls who chose abortion or decided to change schools and “should serve as an evangelising tool to help religious teachers explain to the young women the risks involved with certain behaviours,” said the girl’s mother.
“My daughter has a family that surrounds her and supports her, but what happens to the girls who are thrown out of their homes and rejected by the school? They are left with abortion or suicide,” warned the mother of the 17-year-old who the school is preventing from taking part in her last year of secondary education.
Meanwhile, the girl’s boyfriend, presumed to be the father of the child, has been allowed to continue at the school.
There have been several cases in Argentina where young women have chosen to continue the pregnancy and were expelled from their religious or military educational institutions.
Since the age of five, the girl has attended the Catholic school Santa Isabel, founded 80 years ago in the northern province of Formosa. But in January she discovered she was pregnant and, given her decision to have the baby, the nuns refused to admit her, leading her parents to turn to legal authorities.
First, civil courts ruled against their claims of discrimination. Then, when the case made it to appellate court, the three judges excused themselves for various reasons. Finally, the Supreme Court ordered the immediate re-admission of the young woman to the school, but the nuns are resisting the mandate.
A justice official had to accompany the girl to register for classes last week, and he himself had to pull the appropriate books from the shelves because none of the school’s employees would take part in the transaction. Outside the school, dozens of the students’ parents prayed in protest.
Once she was registered, school authorities decided to close the institution’s doors for two days, calling for some “periods of reflection.” But the school remained closed “like a tomb” beyond the two days, according to the pregnant girl’s mother.
“I had hopes that they were really taking time to reflect because I resisted thinking that they were rejecting my daughter, but this is real. Friday when we arrived they told us that the school remained closed in order to exterminate mice,” commented the mother, who asked once again for a compassionate attitude toward her daughter.
The court not only ordered the girl’s reinstitution, they also imposed a 100-dollar fine on the nuns for each day she is kept out of the school. In addition, the judges requested an investigation into the institution’s non-compliance, which prompted the Franciscan sisters to apply for an exemption from potential prison sentences.
Because it is a religious school, it receives a major government subsidy to pay the teachers’ salaries, and with its relatively accessible student tuition (45 dollars per month) the nuns maintain the building.
The suspension of classes last week affected all primary and secondary students.
“The school is trying to punish my daughter, but it is harming the entire school community by calling off classes for all grades,” pointed out the mother.
Meanwhile, the girl’s father stated he has no plans to switch schools now after 12 years, but admitted he is greatly disappointed with the school’s authorities and with the parents of the other students, who now shun his daughter.
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RIGHTS-ARGENTINA: Catholic School Uncharitable with Pregnant Girl
Marcela Valente
- The barriers imposed on a pregnant adolescent who wants to continue her studies at a Catholic school has sparked dispute in Argentina, a country where sex education is nearly non-existent and abortion is illegal.
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