Ecuador Catholics Face Death Threats for Opposing Pro-Abortion Constitution
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 8, 2008
Quito, Ecuador (LifeNews.com) — Catholic Church officials in Ecuador are facing death threats because they oppose a section of the newly proposed national constitution that they’re concerned promotes abortion. Archbishop Antonio Arregui Yarza and Amparo Medina, president of Ecuador’s Pro-Life Action Foundation, received them.
They are opposing a 444-page draft of a new constitution for the South American nation because it includes the phrase "reproductive rights" that pro-life advocates have long pointed to as a code word for abortion.
"We’re going to request that the entire Christian conscience takes note of the nonnegotiable incompatibilities of this constitution with our faith," Archbishop Yarza of Guayaquil has said.
In one of the recent incidents of intimidation, Medina received a shoebox in the mail containing a dead rat and the message "death to prolifers" and also had a long letter containing death threats nailed to the door of her home.
The letter contained the message, "Remember that accidents exist, remember that accidental deaths happen daily in our country. Do not continue your anti-woman … campaign … death to traitors, death to those who oppose the nation."
In another incident, Catholic officials found the severed head of a dog with a communion wafer in its mouth in a Catholic chapel as a warning to clergy who dare to speak out against the constitution.
Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, the president of Human Life International, which works with Medina’s group, condemned the threats.
"Clearly, these attempts at intimidation go beyond death threats to cruelty and blasphemy. Anyone who doubts the criminal, diabolical nature of the international abortion lobby need look no further," he told LifeNews.com.
“These threats just confirm what we have always known about the promoters of abortion—they are violent and deadly.” Euteneuer added.
Euteneuer called on Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa, to stop prompting abortion advocates to threaten pro-life people and Catholic leaders. He also urged the people of Ecuador to reject the constitution when it votes on September 28.
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