The Ecuadorian Congress approved on February 17 the depenalization of abortion for victims of rape. The Catholic Church had made several efforts to avoid such outcome, with a broad pro-life campaign organized in several dioceses of the South American country. Now, Catholics hope that President Guillermo Lasso will veto the bill till the end of March.

The Ecuadorian Constitutional Court had approved the measure in April of 2021, after the interposition of several petitions over the previous years by women’s rights movements. Till then, abortion was only legal if the pregnancy represented a risk for the mother’s life or in cases of rape of mentally disabled women. With the Court’s decision, it was precisely the limitation to mentally disabled women that was taken out of the Ecuadorian penal code.

The National Assembly was ordered by the Court to regulate the measure, establishing a maximum number of weeks of pregnancy. The Assembly determined that victims of rape with a pregnancy of up to 12 weeks can legally interrupt it. For underage, rural, and Indigenous women, the limit corresponds to 18 weeks. 

One of the most active Catholic initiatives against the bill’s approval was S.O.S. Mamá, which helps pregnant women whose difficult life circumstances could lead them to abort their babies. Director Amparo Medina told the Catholic Herald that the bill’s approval was “extraordinarily fast” and that “she did not have an opportunity to express her views during the analysis in Court.”

“All process was carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic, which reduced the participation of people in the social debate. And its approval was greatly accelerated,” she complained.

According to Medina, both pro-life and pro-abortion activists were not allowed to express their points of view in Court.

“It was all very fast. That is an unprecedented case in Ecuador’s history,” she added.

She accused international pro-abortion organizations, helped by Ecuadorian feminist groups, of putting pressure on the Constitutional Court.  

“There is a true abortion industry, and it is showing its power now in Ecuador,” she pointed out.

Pro-life groups like S.O.S. Mamá have been criticizing a few topics of the law that they consider especially insidious. The bill establishes that pregnant women who want to undergo abortive procedures do not need to show a police report to the clinic in order to confirm that the rape occurred.

“A teenager whose parents do not want her to abort the baby can remain under legal guardianship of the Defensoría del Pueblo (People’s Advocate Office) and undergo the procedure,” Medina added.

The bill also determines that teenagers must be informed by the State of their right to abortion, something that was considered profoundly negative by Catholic movements, which consider that such measure somehow strengthens a culture of abortion.

“The Church has been struggling against the culture of abortion, but we are facing a real tsunami. Such culture is supported by great economic and political forces,” declared Fr. Jesús Castillo, a director at the Saint Joseph Seminary in Quito who works closely with the Family Pastoral ministry at the archdiocese.  

Despite the initial approval of the bill, Fr. Castillo believes that the struggle against abortion can still be successful.

“The church in Quito has been making an enormous effort to promote a culture of life. We not only have a solid Family Pastoral ministry but also a specific Pro-Life Pastoral ministry, mainly led by laypeople,” he told the Catholic Herald.

Amparo Medina said that all over the discussion of the bill, the Ecuadorian episcopate has played a central role expressing its repudiation of abortion in any circumstance.

“The bishops’ conference issued a number of statements against the bill, and individual bishops also criticized it to the press. Many priests joined them in that effort,” she affirmed.

As part of that battle, the Ecuadorian bishops have been strengthening Pro-Life Pastoral ministries in dioceses all over the country and creating new ones where they did not exist. 

S.O.S. Mamá has also seen a relevant growth, reaching 19 different initiatives in different parts of the country. The organization’s programs include welcome centers for pregnant women in need, homes for children, and all kinds of support to mothers.

“We also accompany pregnant women from the beginning. And we have founded a cemetery to offer to the babies aborted in clinics and on the street a proper funeral,” she described. 

Now, Medina hopes that President Guillermo Lasso – who has already declared to be pro-life – to veto the bill.

“We want the President to exert his democratic and republican power and veto the bill. We think he should convoke a plebiscite about abortion, so Ecuadorians can finally manifest their view regarding that issue,” she said.

If a popular vote on abortion is really organized, Medina is confident that a great majority of the Ecuadorians will vote against it. “We have conducted several surveys which showed that up to 85 percent of the people opposes it,” she added.

Fr. Castillo argues that Catholics must keep working in the building of a pro-life culture against all odds, because “they will eventually win that battle.”

“Little by little we have been expanding our values and planting new seeds against the culture of death. Most people are against abortion and prefer to cherish life,” he concluded.

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