Costa Rica Elects Pro-Life Laura Chinchilla as its First Woman President
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 9, 2010
San Jose, Costra Rica (LifeNews.com) — The central American nation of Costa Rica elected its first female president in Laura Chinchilla and she is a pro-life advocate. Chinchilla received 47 percent of the votes from Sunday’s election and a top pro-life Hispanic activist tells LifeNews.com that her election is good news.
Costa Rica has long been one of the top pro-life countries by virtue of its prohibiting abortions and its pro-life advocacy at the United Nations.
Chinchilla is a member of the National Liberation Party (PLN) and she defeated her two main rivals, Otton Solis and Otto Guevara, to win the election. She previously served as vice-president under her predecessor Oscar Arias, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.
She campaigned as a pro-life candidate during the election and talked about advancing the interests of women in her victory speech.
She thanked “those who shepherded through the cause of equal opportunities for women…and opened up spaces for women in the government."
Raimundo Rojas, the Hispanic outreach director for the National Right to Life Committee, told LifeNews.com that Chinchilla’s win "wasn’t just a victory for the ruling party, this was a victory for women’s lives and this was a victory for the unborn children of Costa Rica."
"In a decade where we have seen outside influences ferociously attempt to change the laws that protect unborn children in Latin America, Chinchilla’s victory offers a set-back for pro-abortion forces in central America," Rojas said.
The election victory allows Costa Rica to essentially thumb its nose at international agencies and pro-abortion groups wanting the nation to allow abortions that kill children and hurt women.
"IPFF and PPFA have been using the United Nations as a club to beat abortion into the law in many Latin American countries, Laura Chinchilla will help offer temperance to those who would insist that the best thing a Latina woman can do for her family is kill her youngest child," Rojas said.
Chinchilla will join two other Latin America female leaders – both Chile and Argentina currently have woman leaders and she assumes office on May 8.
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