Lancet, a weekly peer-reviewed medical journal, described by Wikipedia as “among the world's oldest, most prestigious, and best known general medical journals” has increasingly demonstrated its pro-abortion bias as it continues its U.N recognized leadership on global health issues.  Following the defeat of legislation to advance access to abortion in Argentina, Lancet published an editorial “Catholic Church v women’s rights in Argentina” critical of the Catholic Church in Argentina and Pope Francis, going as far as calling on Pope Francis to revise Church doctrine against abortion in light of modern “norms”.

The editorial begins by calling the pro-life win “disappointing news” stating that “public support” had helped bring the country to the point of nearly passing the abortion legislation while ignoring the pro-life support among Argentineans who helped defeat the bill. The pro-abortion loss is attributed to the influence of the Catholic Church which Lancet views in the negative, outraged that “Catholic bishops spoke out against the bill and the Cardinal of Buenos Aires pontificated fetal rights in a mass during the legislative debate.”

Lancet’s strongest criticism is leveled at the pope: “Most disappointing is Pope Francis, the Argentinian leader of the worldwide Catholic Church”. Lancet claims, “While Pope Francis has been praised for his progressive views on some social justice issues, he deserves no credit for advancing women’s rights. Just a week before the abortion vote, the Vatican reformed its position on the death penalty, declaring it inadmissible in all cases. Thus, Pope Francis seems comfortable changing doctrine based on modernised social norms with regard to the rights of prisoners. But he offers no such accommodation to women’s reproduction.”

The editorial concludes,

“Instead, by continuing to fight against the legalisation of abortion, the Catholic Church rejects the rights and bodily autonomy of women and disregards the horror of thousands of women each year who are injured or die from unsafe abortion. The Catholic Church's chokehold on women's reproductive rights must yield.”

PNCI notes that according to the most recent factsheet on Induced Abortion Worldwide by pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, “during 2010-2014, an estimated 56 million induced abortions occurred each year worldwide” while worldwide “at least 22,800 women die each year from complications of unsafe abortion”.

As pro-life senators argued in Argentina, access to health services is needed to save women’s lives, not abortion.