Coming to America: World Pro-Life Leaders to Join Americans at March for Life
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 18, 2010
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Leaders of pro-life groups from across the world are coming to the U.S. this week to join their American colleagues at the annual March for Life. They are hoping to draw inspiration from the hundreds of thousands of pro-life advocates who will attend and to learn new strategies to stop abortions.
The pro-life advocates will come from as far away as Africa, Europe, South America, Asia and island nations to stand in solidarity with their American brothers and sisters and protest the radical expansion of abortion under President Barack Obama.
They will also speak at a conference sponsored by Human Life International on January 22 at the Washington Court Hotel in Washington before the March for Life.
Joseph Meaney, an HLI official who coordinates projects between the organization’s U.S. headquarters and its international contacts, talked with LifeNews.com.
"America’s March for Life is now the world’s March for Life," he said.
"It has become the world’s pro-life protest because of the aggressive promotion of abortion and population control that is now official policy of the United States, thanks to the administration of President Barack Obama," he said.
Dr. Ligaya Acosta, HLI regional coordinate for Asian and Pacific island nations, added that the "anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which has led to the destruction of almost 50 million American children" has ramifications for other nations in part because of Obama’s decision to allow taxpayer funding of groups that perform and promote abortions in other countries.
"This is now the anniversary of President Obama’s allowing Americans’ taxpayer funds to be used to promote abortion and other assaults on life in my own country of the Philippines, in Africa, in China," Acosta said. "All over the world where 40 million babies are killed every year. It is wrong and we are here to tell him and Congress to stop paying to kill our children."
HLI officials are also upset that Obama is sending money to groups like Planned Parenthood that are telling people in other nations how many children to have.
"We are tired of the arrogant American government trying to tell us how many children we should have," said Emil Hagamu, HLI’s regional coordinator for English-speaking Africa. "President Obama is of Kenyan descent. How can he do this to his own people?"
Raymond DeSouza, HLI’s coordinator for Portuguese-speaking nations, added: "These aggressive policies are undeniably hurting America’s stature with the people of the world, even if they help America appeal to the cruel international elites who want to run everything."
"When international aid is tied to abortion, it’s like holding a nation hostage, telling them that children are bad, which translates into hopelessness for the future. This is a terrible violence against the families and children of the developing world," DeSouza added.
HLI’s pre-march mini-conference is titled, "The Fight for Life Around the World."
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