A group of pro-life professionals are fighting against the legalization of the morning-after pill (MAP) in Ecuador. They contacted PRI’s Latin American office in Lima, looking for some help. They knew well our website www.tercerefecto.com and our work against MAP in Peru. So we made arrangements for a trip to Guayaquil and Quito at the end of February. Dr. Gonzalo Flores, an expert in the legality of MAP and how that relates to Latin American constitutions, joined us for a visit of nine days.
MAP Fight Begins
The light against MAP began in November, and things were going quite well for pro lifers. A court decision removed Postinor II (levonorgestrel), used in MAP, from the market and moved the case to the Constitutional Court (similar to the U.S. Supreme Court). A unanimous decision could remove MAP from the Ecuadorian market forever. Laws in Ecuador are very pro-life and pro-family. The constitution protects the unborn from conception onward, as does that of virtually every Latin American country. The Child and Adolescent Code of Ecuador is even more specific. In Article 20, it says, “Children and adolescents have right to life from conception … Experiments and medical or genetic manipulation are prohibited from the fertilization of the ovum to birth.”
Doctor Sues to Stop MAP
Dr. Fernando Rosero, the lawyer who sued the state to stop MAP sales, said that one of the crucial points was to present scientific evidence to the Constitutional Court and the media. So, we got to work. After several meetings with pro-life physicians, a 207-page report was ready with 33 references to the latest medical studies about MAP, as well as a one-minute visual presentation about how MAP works. It showed how the anti-implantation effect violates the Constitution of Ecuador.
We visited some politicians in Quito and with the Human Rights Commission of the Congress. They understood our proposals. We talked about many other human rights abuses in “family planning” programs performed with U.S. funds in our countries. They remembered very well forced sterilizations in Peru under former President Fujimori’s administration. And they had clearly in mind that every Ecuadorian begins his life at conception, and our duty to defend it, Family, Children and Women Commission staff received us and we agreed to propose a law to celebrate the Day of the Unborn Child on March 25 as in Peru, Argentina, Paraguay, Honduras and some other countries.
However, pharmaceutical companies and some pro-abortion organizations are promoting MAP. At the beginning of March, the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) joined the legal case. They presented their own 30-page scientific and legal report. And CRR will provide all the support they can to the other side. Please pray that our Ecuadorian friends will succeed in protecting life.
Carlos Polo is Director of PRI’s Latin American office, located in Lima, Peru.
