We must oppose and denounce IPPF where it is doing the most damage: in Latin America. We must also help those groups that are trying to keep it from achieving its objectives. Vida Humana Internacional, Human Life International's Hispanic Division, has a network of organizations in these countries which it helps with education, training, materials and funds. Though this help stands in stark contrast to the millions of dollars that IPPF spends, great pro-life victories have been achieved by dedicated, hard working volunteers.

In 1998 then president of Argentina, Carlos Menem, proclaimed every 25 March (Feast of the Annunciation), the Day of the Unborn Child. He did so in an executive order that affirms the God-given right to life of every preborn child and the duty of government to defend the dignity of every such child. In addition to this, President Menem himself officiated at the first observance in Buenos Aires, and I was invited by the Argentinian government to attend. Menem sent his executive order and a letter to all the other Latin American presidents, as well as to the presidents of Spain, Portugal and The Philippines with a personal plea: "If we all raised our voices declaring the existence of life from the moment of conception, the world could not remain indifferent."1 Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama and Uruguay have all followed.

Costa Rica became the first country in the world to reject in-vitro fertilization, a stunning pro-life legal precedent. On Thursday, October 11, 2001, Feast of the Maternity of Mary, the Constitutional Court of Costa Rica declared that the in-vitro fertilization reproductive technology is unconstitutional because children conceived in this manner are at risk. The panel of judges recognized that human life begins at conception, and from that moment, these human beings are ‘persons' under the law and thus entitled to legal protection. The court explained that the sanctity of life is a paramount human right that belongs to all persons from the moment of their conception. It was also asserted that no reproductive technologies are to be used which would place conceived human beings at risk of losing their lives. The court stated: ‘The principle of the sanctity of human life…embodies a right that belongs to everyone without exception…any exception or limitation destroys the very essence of that right…".2

Over 22,000 unborn babies and their mothers have been saved from abortion in Mexico, thanks to the efforts of the 24 National Pro-Life Committee's crisis pregnancy centers throughout that country. Jorge Serrano, the founder, says he was motivated and trained to open those CPC's after attending Human Life International's bilingual conference and training sessions. Mexico's pro-life/family foundation is a Human Life International (HLI) affiliate, and is collaborating with HLI in establishing an Aid to Women Network, so that more crisis pregnancy centers can be established in Latin America.

More than 100,000 people marched for life in Nicaragua in 2000. Even the president and his wife, along with other government officials, participated. The march was organized by HLI's affiliate, ANPROVIDA, whose president Dr. Rafael Cabrera Artola, an Ob Gyn.

HLI's Colombia affiliate, Fundacion Cultura de la Vida Humana (Culture of Life Foundation), has founded two new crisis pregnancy centers and has helped defeat pro-abortion and pro-gay legislation a number of times with its educational efforts.

HLI's Hispanic Division, Vida Humana Internacional (VHI), has 15 affiliates in Latin America, The Caribbean and Spain that it provides help to and collaborates with. It also provides assistance to countless other groups and individuals. VHI's bilingual website, which has a special section in both Spanish and English, dedicated to denouncing IPPF and Planned Parenthood, received over one million hits in just one month. The 13 part tv series on abortion that VHI filmed in collaboration with EWTN in which IPPF is also denounced, has been broadcast for two years, all over the U.S., Latin America and Spain. VHI's radio program "Defiende la Vida" (Defend Life), is broadcast on WEWN - World Catholic Radio- twice weekly. VHI's website at www.vidahumana.org, provides extensive information in Spanish on more than 20 life and family issues. It also offers printed educational materials, videos and audiotapes.

Much more is being done in the Hispanic countries by corageous volunteers, to denounce IPPF, fight the death peddlers and build the culture of life. What they have achieved with the little resources that they have is unbelievable. If they had more financial help they could do so much more. Please pray for them.

NOTE: This article is part of a talk given by Mrs. Magaly Llaguno at the American Life League World Conference in New Orleans, July 14, 2002.

1. Llaguno, "Argentina proclaims Day of the Unborn Child", HLI Reports, May 1999. 2. HLI Press release, October 18, 2000.