Ginés González García (born 31 August 1945) is an Argentine medical doctor who served twice as the country's

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

under President

Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer and professor, serving as president of Argentina since 2019. Born in Buenos Aires, Fernández attended the University of Buenos Aires, where he earned his law ...

, from 2019 to 2021, and under the successive presidencies of

Eduardo Duhalde Eduardo Alberto Duhalde (; born 5 October 1941) is an Argentine Peronist politician who served as the interim President of Argentina from January 2002 to May 2003. He also served as Vice President and Governor of Buenos Aires in the 1990s. Bor ...

and

Néstor Kirchner Néstor Carlos Kirchner (; 25 February 195027 October 2010) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, Governor of Santa Cruz Province from 1991 to 2003, Secretary General of UNASUR and ...

, from 2002 to 2007. A specialist on public healthcare, González García also served as Argentine Ambassador to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

from 2007 to 2015.

Career

González García was born in

San Nicolás de los Arroyos San Nicolás de los Arroyos (usually shortened to ''San Nicolás'') is a city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the western shore of the Paraná River, from Rosario. It has about 133,000 inhabitants (). It is the administrative seat ...

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

, and graduated as a

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

at the

National University of Córdoba The National University of Córdoba ( es, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba,) is an institution of higher education in the city of Córdoba, Argentina. Founded in 1613, the university is the oldest in Argentina, the third oldest university of t ...

. He first entered public service as the Minister of Health of

from 1988 to 1991. He was appointed Argentina's Minister of Health in January 2002, days after the congressional appointment of interim

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

, and ratified in his post by President

upon taking office in May 2003.

Minister of Health

González García became the focus of a controversy in February 2005, when he was verbally attacked by the head military

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Antonio Baseotto Antonio Baseotto (born 1932) was a Roman Catholic bishop from Argentina. Until February 2005 he was Argentina's military bishop (''obispo castrense''), that is, the head of the military chaplains, with the status of Subsecretary of State. Biogra ...

, because of the minister's public support of the legalization of

abortion in Argentina Elective Abortion in Argentina is legal in the first 14 weeks of gestation. The abortion law was liberalized after the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Bill (Argentina) was passed by the National Congress in December 2020. According to the la ...

(where interrupting a pregnancy was at the time a serious crime except when the mother's life was in grave danger, or in cases of rape of a mentally impaired woman), as well as his endorsement of

sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual acti ...

and his implementation of a program of free

contraception Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

and

condom A condom is a sheath-shaped barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both male and female condoms. With proper use—and use at every act of in ...

distribution programs. The dispute underscored both the influence of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in Argentina, as well as the factious nature of local church-state relations themselves. On December 12, 2019, two days after returning as Argentina's Minister of Health, González García issued a protocol expanding hospital abortion access to pregnancies which resulted from rape. In addition, the protocol provides that girls as young as 13 years of age can have abortions in such cases without the consent of either of their parents. The protocol also weakens a doctor's ability to refuse to perform such abortions due to personal objection as well.

Covid-19 Vaccination Scandal

Ginés González García was forced to resign as Health Minister on 19 February 2021 after it was revealed that he provided preferential treatment for the

COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an e ...

to his close friends, including journalist

Horacio Verbitsky Horacio Verbitsky (born February 11, 1942) is an Argentine investigative journalist and author with a history as a leftist guerrilla in the Montoneros. In the early 1990s, he reported on a series corruption scandals in the administration of Presi ...

and other political figures. He was succeeded by the second-in-charge

Carla Vizzotti Carla Vizzotti (born 1 June 1972) is an Argentine physician specialized in vaccine-preventable diseases. She was the Secretary of Health Access and Vice Minister of Health in Argentina's Health Ministry, working under Minister Ginés González G ...

. The revelation was met with wide national condemnation, from supporters and opposition, as Argentina had at the time received only 1,5 million doses of vaccine for its population of 40 million.

Argentine Ambassador to Chile

Ginés González García was appointed as Argentine Ambassador to Chile by president

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President ...

on December 24, 2007. He was in office until December 10, 2015 and was succeeded by

José Octavio Bordón José Octavio Bordón (born 22 December 1945) is an Argentine politician and diplomat. He was governor of Mendoza Province from 1987 to 1991, and served in both houses of the National Congress as a National Deputy and a National Senator. Most ...

List of ambassadors of Argentina to Chile The Argentina, Argentine ambassador in Santiago de Chile is the official representative of the Government in Buenos Aires to the Government of Chile. List of representatives Rosendo Fraga, La política exterior argentina: a través de los m ...

References

1945 births Living people People from San Nicolás de los Arroyos Argentine people of Spanish descent National University of Córdoba alumni Argentine surgeons Justicialist Party politicians Argentine ministers of health Ambassadors of Argentina to Chile Argentine diplomats {{Argentina-politician-stub