Dear Colleague:

The abortion revolution is putting on a big push in Colombia, the latest
victim of First World-funded efforts to impose abortion-on-demand in Latin
America.

Steven W. Mosher
President

PRI Weekly Briefing
30 September 2005
Vol. 7 / No. 38


Pro-Abortion Court Revolution Targets Colombia
By Joseph A. D'Agostino

A tyrannical global revolution in law is underway, and the leaders of this
international movement have targeted the small, turbulent country of
Colombia.  By their own admission, they want Colombia to be on the leading
edge of legalizing abortion in Latin America.  They may have their wish as
soon as November of this year, and if they do, more people could end up
dying than have in Colombia's long-running battle with narco-Marxist
rebels.

Anti-life activists filed a constitutional challenge to Colombia's
anti-abortion law earlier this year, and the Constitutional Court is
scheduled to make a ruling by the beginning of December.  Adopting a
tactic more and more frequently used, lawyer Mónica Roa bases her suit on
so-called rights that have become embedded in international law.  Though
she personally favors abortion on demand, Roa is asking the court to
legalize abortion only in cases of rape, terminal deformity in the unborn
child, and serious threat to the health of the mother.  Anyone who knows
anything about the history of abortion laws knows that the last exception
is used by abortionists to grant abortions to all those women who seek
them.  For example, in the United States, an abortionist must merely
certify that a woman would feel depressed if she were denied an abortion,
and that qualifies her abortion for the "serious health risk" exception.

Asked how a country as heavily Catholic and pro-life as Colombia could
have her abortion laws liberalized by judges, PRI Latin America director
Carlos Polo replied, "Because politics is made by active minorities, not
by majorities.  These pro-abortion people have enough money to work
full-time and build a big network."  Pro-abortion international
organizations funded by American and European money-tax money as well as
private contributions-have been eroding Latin America's Christian and
pro-family culture.  This year, they could score their biggest legal
victory yet in the area of abortion.

Polo traveled to Colombia in July to assist in coordinating the opposition
to the lawsuit and is in frequent contact with Colombian Dr. Ilva Miriam
Hoyos, a local pro-life leader.  PRI has a six-member group based in Lima,
Peru working with the Latin American Catholic bishops in an attempt to
halt the tide of pro-abortion interference taking place in Latin America.
Polo has also worked closely with Dan Zeidler, U.S. representative of the
Venezuela-based Latin American Alliance for the Family.

"It is my opinion that the influence of the Faith on public life is less
strong than before in Colombia," says Zeidler.  "I believe there has been
a significant development of a secular influence, and there is more of an
openness to accept abortion on the part of some Colombians.  I believe
this unfortunate development is due to the trend toward secularism
world-wide, and especially to the efforts over three decades by outside
international organizations to change the country's traditional respect
for life and family through the promotion of a contraceptive/abortion
mentality."

Abortion promoter Roa has traveled to the United States and given gleeful
talks and interviews on the upcoming prospect of doing an end-run around
democracy in Colombia by imposing a new abortion regime through the courts
(sound familiar?).  "Abortion in Colombia is illegal under every
circumstance.  Colombia's abortion law stipulates that both the woman who
has the abortion and the abortion provider can be sentenced to up to three
years in prison.  Colombia, Chile and El Salvador are the only three
countries in Latin America that prohibit abortion under all circumstances.
. .," said Roa during a July 2005 Women's Human Rights Net interview.
Most have certain narrow exceptions, though unfortunately, enforcement of
anti-abortion laws in much of Latin America is lax.

"Although women do not go to jail for this reason often, the illegality
constitutes a violation of their right to life, equality, integrity and
dignity," Roa claimed.  "Women are forced to risk their lives and health
by getting unsafe abortions.  This is how abortion is the third-leading
cause of maternal mortality in Colombia, which is unacceptable given that
unsafe abortion is the only cause of maternal mortality that can be
prevented."

Of course, unsafe abortion can be easily prevented, by not seeking
abortion in the first place.  According to the World Health Organization,
throughout all of Latin America and the Caribbean annually, 3,700 women
die from unsafe abortion-a bad thing, but not high in the list of causes
of death.  Effort and money directly elsewhere would save more Latin
American women's lives, not to mention those of their children.

Roa specifically cited the development of international law as a major
weapon in her arsenal against the laws of her own country, proving once
again how dangerous the trend in the United States toward reliance on
international law really is, and how important are pro-lifers' lobbying
efforts at the United Nations against inclusion of ambiguous reproductive
health language in international agreements.  "On one hand, the Colombian
Constitutional Court has recognized the legal value of international human
rights arguments and has used them to solve constitutional challenges in
other areas," said Roa.  "On the other hand, the international human
rights arguments that frame illegal abortion as a violation of women's
rights have become clearer and stronger.  I am only putting those two
together."

She also admits that abortion-on-demand is her goal and that of the
"women's movement" in Colombia.  Some women's groups say that her lawsuit
doesn't ask for enough and by doing so "remind society that this is only a
first step, that it is not enough, and by the way they make my arguments
sound more moderate."  She also said that she is "positive" that a victory
in Colombia would nudge other Latin American countries in a pro-abortion
direction.

Pro-lifers are not taking it lying down.  "Our pro-life friends have
collected 2 million signatures opposing the lawsuit," said Polo, who works
with Colombian pro-life activists.  "In Colombia, a minority is ruling
against a Catholic majority and against reason and the law."  Roa is
certainly well-connected.  One of the members of the Constitutional Court,
Manuel José Cepeda, wrote a prologue to her book, Cuerpo y Derecho (Body &
Rights).

The legal battle has led most Colombians politicians to cower in safety,
unwilling to take a stand for life or for the rule of law.  "Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe and other top leaders have remained largely
silent," reported the Chicago Tribune on September 21.

The Colombian effort is part of a worldwide revolution of destruction
promoted by courts in nation after nation.  Whether it is abrogating the
right to religious expression, imposing same-sex marriage, forcing
pornography on children, or legalizing abortion on demand, the cultural
elites of the world care nothing for the rule of law or democratic
self-government.  Roa is affiliated with Ford Foundation-funded Women's
Link International, which openly acknowledges using the courts to force
ordinary people to change long-standing ways of life.  "Through case
studies gathered from local litigation efforts to advance women's rights
across six countries--Spain, Poland, South Africa, Thailand, Australia and
Colombia--Women's Link's Gender Justice project seeks to systematize
lessons-learned from advocates asserting social change through national
courts," it says.  "Gender Justice provides national advocates with an
array of strategies for working with the judiciary using cross-regional
comparisons and international standards."

"Our enemies have invested money for decades building up anti-Christian
academic groups and universities," Polo said.  But two million Colombians
could thwart them this time.


Joseph A. D'Agostino is Vice President for Communications at the
Population Research Institute.


_______
PRI
P.O. Box 1559
Front Royal, VA 22630
USA

Phone: (540) 622-5240 Fax: (540) 622-2728
Email: jad@pop.org
Media Contact: Joseph A. D'Agostino
(540) 622-5240, ext. 204
_________
(c) 2005 Population Research Institute. Permission to reprint granted.
Redistribute widely. Credit required.
_________
If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to PRI, please go to
https://pop.org/donate.cfm. All donations (of any size) are welcomed and
appreciated.
_________
To subscribe to the Weekly Briefing, send an email to:
JOIN-PRI@Pluto.Sparklist.com or email pri@pop.org and say "Add me to your
Weekly Briefing."
__________
The pro-life Population Research Institute is dedicated to ending human
rights abuses committed in the name of "family planning," and to ending
counter-productive social and economic paradigms premised on the myth of
"overpopulation."