Today, in the world's largest Roman Catholic Country, Pope Benedict XVI is emphasizing that politicians who vote to legalize abortion should "exclude themselves from communion." This comes at a sensitive time for Latin America. In Brazil, where abortion is against the law except in limited circumstances, the number of illegal abortions is estimated at one to two million a year. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is opposed to the procedure himself, recently said that if the state abdicates from considering abortion as a public health question it will lead to "the deaths of many young women." Church leaders have denounced a proposal for a national referendum. Jack Chang is South America Correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers.
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