For decades, organizations such as the United Nations and Amnesty International have sought to push abortion “reform” on less developed countries, including several nations in Latin America and Africa. While pro-abortion citizens of the Western world may view this activism as liberation, some natives of the target nations find it to be neo-colonization.
In an exchange at the United Nations last month, Danish socialist Member of Parliament Mette Gjerskov defended the actions of Western governments and organizations pressuring African nations to liberalize abortion laws. Gjerskov argued that creating abortion rights would help African nations avoid a new form of colonization.
But Obianuju Ekeocha, founder of Culture of Life Africa and vocal opponent of the pro-birth control Western mindset, disagreed with the European politician’s solution for Africa. Ekeocha explained that Ibo, her native language, and “most African languages, don’t even have a way of phrasing having an abortion that means anything good.”
“Most of the African communities actually believe by their traditions and their cultural standards that abortion is a direct attack on human life,” said Ekeocha. She went on to denounce Europeans forcing abortion on Africa, claiming it is equivalent to telling an African woman “what her parents, her grandparents, her ancestors taught her is actually wrong. You’re going to have to tell her that they have always been wrong, and that, madame, is colonization.”
