The Pope is a head of state. He actively intervened to persuade the senators to reject the bill. That is indefensible interference in the affairs of a foreign state by a head of state. Now where have we heard of and disapproved of that before? The Catholic clergy were extremely active in calling for opposition to the bill from the pulpit. That is a gross misuse of the platform they have been afforded. Now, Joe, some of us utterly reject the notion that abortion should be treated as a religious issue. It's a very good bet that religious intervention in Argentina played a massive if not decisive part in causing the bill to fail. You can't deflect away from that rather obstinate fact. No-one in Argentina voted for the Pope or any of their priests. Wrong, wrong, wrong, and the Catholic Church is now likely to have the blood of thousands more young women on its hands. If I were still a Catholic (I suppose I'm still counted as one in the stats), this disgraceful episode alone would have me leaving the Church and I wouldn't be going quietly.