Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this guest post are solely those of the author and are not necessarily reflective of Live Action or Live Action News.
Ecuador is located in the middle of the world. We have more than 17 million inhabitants and a very conservative culture. We are also blessed with four marvelous climatic regions, one of them known as the enchanted islands (Galápagos Islands). But we have also been strongly targeted by the anti-family lobby for the past two years, with very special attention given this year. We have seen very closely the dark tentacles of the abortion agenda trying harder and harder to attack the two most valuable entities that represent our society: faith and family.
The burning of churches, humanitarian blackmail (#ChantajeHumanitario), abortion bill debates, home delivery of online abortion pills (in a country where abortion is illegal) — all of these are just a few attacks we have encountered just this year, during a time when a global virus has ironically taught us the real value of life. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. There is more yet to come, and we need to be prepared not only to respond and fight against these efforts, but to prevent these attacks. We must empower the pro-life grassroots among younger generations to be the life leaders we need them to be, and to become part of the solution rather than the problem.
The UN’s humanitarian blackmail was the “cherry on top” of these anti-life efforts, as it tried to manipulate Ecuador with $46 million USD in COVID-19 aid, and $3 million of it was earmarked to promote “legal and safe” abortion.
Marching for Life in Ecuador (Photo via Martha Cecilia Villafuerte)
The attacks against life and family values are the same throughout the world, and therefore, the defense of life should be same throughout the world. Pro-life organizations have allied within Ecuador, receiving even international support from countries like Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Spain, and the United States, to fight these efforts to force abortion upon Ecuador. With all of this interconnected support, the pro-life campaign was successful, with our congress people by our side, helping to route the COVID-19 aid where it needed to go, with our religious leaders supporting us, and with the media having no other choice but to expose the truth. This marked a historic precedent in Ecuador for pro-life advocacy, capturing global attention. We have worked to establish a strong network to promote the culture of life by educating our youth, to defend our constitutional rights, and to protect the life of the unborn.
FAMILIA ECUADOR is a national pro-life and pro-family network that seeks to give citizens the necessary tools to carry out direct actions in defense of life and family values. We encourage all Ecuadorians to join forces and be part of the noblest of causes, in order to strengthen pro-life values and principles, and to activate the culture of life in each person by defending every human being from the moment of fertilization.
Our goal is to share our work with other countries in Latin America and the world, to create international collaborative alliances in the academic, legal, political, and economic fields.
We look to motivate professional advocates to defend life in the political sphere, as we are aware that it is the most important battlefield. We refer to some of the defenders of life in Congress as “escuderos de la vida” (pro-life knights) for both defending life and for being ethical politicians, because those values are missing among most political representatives.
Marching for Life in Ecuador (Photo via Martha Cecilia Villafuerte)
I know how important it is to take that challenging step to defend life politically, as I am running for vice-president of my country! This has allowed me to raise an even louder voice for the noblest of causes, reaching every corner of my beautiful country. Taking the pro-life cause to the next level, the political level, is empowering more and more people to step up and demand true political representation in the upcoming February 2021 elections.
Pro-lifers in America and worldwide have inspired us to be more strategic, gather more allies, be more prepared, and raise more voices to save as many lives as we can. Help us by spreading the message, that Ecuador is a pro-life country more committed to the mission of defending life than ever.
Note: This pro-life song was produced by Familia Ecuador for the country. It was mastered in Orlando, Florida (USA).
Editor’s Note: This guest post was edited for clarity. Author Martha Cecilia Villafuerte is the Director of Familia Ecuador.
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