Argentina : Argentina Episcopal Conference Guide-lines referring the performance of the Conference on sexual offenses against children and adolescents committed by clerics

 Guide-lines of action in case of abuse complaints were presented by Bishop  Carlos Malfa, Secretary of the episcopal Conference of Argentina, on August 5  at the Faculty of Canon Law of Buenos Aires.

 These guide-lines were elaborated, by attending the provisions of the Holy  See, by several legal experts and other advises of the Episcopal Conference of  Argentina; the Guide-lines were approved in April 2013, and were sent to the  Holy See fr review. They serve as a guide or protocol for Bishops when faced  credible news of the commission of any offense of this kind in their dioceses.

Document:  Argentina Episcopal Conference Líneas-Guía de actuación de la Conferencia Episcopal Argentina sobre casos de delitos sexuales contra niños, niñas y adolescentes cometidos por clérigos

Argentina : Argentina Supreme Court authorizes removal of enteral nutrition and hydration to patient in a coma for more than 20 years

 The Supreme Court of Argentina, in July the 7th. of 2015, dictated a Sentence  recognizing the right of the sister of a patient who is in irreversible vegetative  state since more than twenty years ago, to take away hydration and enteral  feeding which has fulfilled the role of life support for all those year; because  this is a case considered under the Patien Rights Law in ther Professionals and  Health Institutions relations (Law No. 26.529, amended by Law No.26.742).  The Court also suggested the development of a conscientious objection  application protocol for health personnel for these cases so that patien's right  would not be affected by the delay that this may cause.

Document:  Argentina Supreme Court authorizes removal of enteral nutrition and hydration to patient in a coma for more than 20 years

The Supreme Court of Argentina, in July the 7th. of 2015, dated July 7, 2015, dictated a Sentence recognizing the right of the sisters of a patient who is in irreversible vegetative state since more than twenty years ago , to take away hydration and enteral feeding which has fulfilled the role of life support for all those years; because this is a case considered  under the Patient Rights Law in their  Professionals and Health Institutions relations (Law No. 26,529, amended by Law No. 26,742). The Court also suggests the development of an application protocol of conscientious objection of health personnel for these cases so that patients' rights are not affected by the delay that this may cause .

Argentina : Surrogacy Bill in Argentina

 The Surrogacy Bill in the Republic of Argentina, aims to regulate the gestation  substitution which "is a form of medically assisted human reproduction  trhough which a person, called pregnant, agrees whith another person, or  with a parter, called principal, to gestate an embryo so that the person born  has legal ties of affiliation with the principal part":

Document:  Surrogacy Bill in Argentina

Bolivia: Bolivian Ministerial Protocol to perform abortions

 The Bolivian Ministry of Health, through the resolution number 0027 of January 29, 2015,  states that the possibility of an abortion is constitutional,  in cases where pregnancy has  been the result of the commission of a crime, assisting the woman to a public or private  health center in order to have an abortion, without filing a complaint, nor the existence  of accusation or indictment and neither  previous  sentence, but must communicate their  situation to the competent public authority and that way the medical professional may  perform the abortion. In that sense "abortion, should be bonded only to the consent of  the woman and that must necessarily be assumed by a doctor who performed the  abortion, to safeguard the lives of women in proper cases."

Document:  Bolivian Ministerial Protocol to perform abortions

Colombia: Conscientious Objection Bill in Colombia

 In Articles 1 and 2 of Conscientious Objection Bill in Colombia, from July 28, 2015, it is      appointed what the project aims, including the definition of conscientious objection. Thus,  the first article states that "the purpose of this law is to regulate the exercise of the  fundamental right to conscientious objection in the matter of the fulfillment of certain  legal duties, keeping the fair social order and proper exercise of rights".

 Meanwhile, in the second article, conscientious objection is defined as a "fundamental  and personal right, derived from the freedom of conscience and religious freedom and  worship, which has every natural person, in order to oppose the fulfillment of a duty contemplated in the legal system when it is incompatible with convictions of a religious nature, ethical or philosophical resulting from his conscience. The beliefs, motivations or reasons that configure conscientious objection must be  steady, deep, sincere and respond to constitutionally permissible purposes ".

Document:  Conscientious Objection Bill in Colombia

Declaration of Central America Bishops, in the Ordinary Plenary Assembly about the humanitarian crisis of Cuban citizens in Costa Rica

In this declaration, the opinion of Bishops of Central America is appointed, meeting in Ordinary Plenary Assembly on November 23, 2015, regarding the "humanitarian crisis suffered by some three thousand Cuban nationals immigrants who remain temporarily in  Costa Rica states soil waiting to continue their journey to the United States to receive the benefits of the Cuban Adjustment Act of that country. "

Document: Declaración de Obispos del Secretariado Episcopal de América Central (SEDAC) por la situación de los migrantes cubanos.