African pro-life leaders accused western nations this month of using the coronavirus pandemic to push developing countries to allow the killing of unborn babies in abortions.
The Christian Post reports Culture of Life Africa founder Obianuju Ekeocha and other pro-life leaders warned about the pro-abortion strategy in a new short film, “Africa’s Pandemic: A Gateway To Neocolonialism.”
Ekeocha said abortion advocacy groups like Ipas and the Guttmacher Institute are taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic, its strains on the infrastructure and health systems across Africa and these countries’ desperate need for international aid. Within this life-saving aid, however, she said some western countries are including funds earmarked for promoting abortions.
“Some Western donors, including government and international institutions, have used this as an opportunity to insert an ideological agenda focused on so-called ‘sexual and reproductive health and rights’ under the cover of COVID-19 humanitarian relief,” Ekeocha said in a statement to the Post.
“This means that at a time when there is dire basic human needs like food and basic medicines, donors seem to be much more concerned with furthering the territories of the abortion movement …” she continued.
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One of the nations identified in the report is Canada, which, in June, committed about $9 million in international aid to “sexual and reproductive health services,” including abortions, according to the Globe and Mail.
The Swedish government also faced criticism for earmarking $2 million to promoting abortions in Africa instead of dedicating that money to the continent’s dire need for personal protective equipment and other medical supplies.
Pastor Zacc Kawalala, of Malawi, who was interviewed in the film, said Africans are crying out for basic medical care while rich western countries are pushing abortions on them, according to the report. The chair of the Ethics, Peace and Justice Commission, he said most Africans oppose abortions and support protections for unborn babies.
As an example, Kawalala pointed to a recent bill to legalize abortion in Malawi; it failed because a strong majority of Parliament (125 of 188 members) opposed it.
“The Malawians, the people in this nation, are not for this bill,” he said. “It’s the West trying to impose itself on the laws of Malawi. … Let the West stay put. Leave Malawians to decide for Malawians.”
Ekeocha said Kenya also is being targeted by abortion advocacy groups.
“Strengthened by this new infusion of donor funds at a time when many communities are weakened and vulnerable under the burden of a global pandemic, abortion advocacy groups are pushing their ideology of legalized abortion, and yet, none of this makes it into the daily news cycle,” she said.
Pro-abortion western nations and abortion advocacy groups pushed for abortions through the United Nations as well. In June, President Donald Trump’s administration refused to support a UN plan for COVID-19 global humanitarian aid because it included language promoting abortions.
“The UN should not intimidate or coerce Member States that are committed to the right to life,” the Trump administration wrote in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. “To use the COVID-19 pandemic as a justification to pressure governments to change their laws [on abortion] is an affront to the autonomy of each society to determine its own national policies on health care. The United States stands with nations that have pledged to protect the unborn.”
The Trump administration told the UN to stop “promoting abortion” as part of its global coronavirus work – a message that Ekeocha and other African leaders echoed throughout the new film.
