New rightwing Buenos Aires Gov names Justice Minister opposed to abortion in case of rape or incest
The incoming governor of Buenos Aires Province, María Eugenia Vidal, nominated Judge Carlos Mahiques as the next Justice Minister for the province, Argentina's largest. Mahiques is best known for his controversial judicial dissent in 2006 against a disabled teen who had sought an abortion after being raped by her uncle.
Judge Mahiques was the sole dissent against the landmark, July 31, 2006, tribunal court ruling which granted a 19 year-old disabled woman the right to obtain an abortion on account of her mental deficiency and of her being raped. While abortion in nearly all other circumstances remains illegal in Argentina, her request was upheld by the Supreme Court as being within the circumstances provided for in Article 86, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code, and as such a constitutional right that does not require court authorization.
Conservative judges in Argentina such as Mahiques have periodically tried to nullify this right despite the fact that abortion in cases of rape, incest, or where the life of the mother is in danger has been protected as a right within the Argentine Criminal Code since 1921.
"I had a long talk with Vicenta (the victim's mother) because they heard the news and couldn't believe that he (Mahiques) had been named Justice Minister. This is someone who was so unjust to her daughter and her family, that they still live with the psychological consequences of what happened," said Estela Díaz, the Secretary for Gender Equality for the CTA labor union and a supporter and adviser to the young woman throughout the 2006 trial and its aftermath.
The Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), one of Argentina's foremost human rights organizations, has condemned Judge Mahiques for this dissent, as well as for his rulings against prisoners' rights and against the decriminalization of drug use. Mahiques' rulings were overturned in each case by appeals courts or the Argentine Supreme Court.
Mahiques specializes in Criminal Law, has a Doctorate in Law from the Catholic University of Argentina (UCA), and teaches at the Opus Dei-owned Austral University.
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