Bolivia is the target of ideological attacks.
After the Santa Cruz department approved the departmental law protecting life and family in December 2023, Ahmed Hussen, the Minister of International Development of Canada, arrived in Bolivia to announce and launch two new projects on sexual and reproductive rights. These projects, funded by Canada with a total of 19 million Canadian dollars (equivalent to over 14 million USD), aim to implement policies and practices promoting sexual and reproductive rights for adolescents and youth.
One of the projects is entitled “Health and Sexual and Reproductive Rights and a Life Free from Sexual and Gender Violence for the Most Vulnerable Women and Girls in Bolivia 2024-2028,” led by three United Nations agencies in Bolivia: UN Women, UNFPA, and UNICEF, with funding of 10 million Canadian dollars (equivalent to 7.4 million USD). The other project, ‘Resilient and Empowered Adolescents for Change and Action in Health and Sexual and Reproductive Rights (REACH) 2024–2030,’ is sponsored by Plan International and its partner CIES Bolivia. It has funding of 9 million Canadian dollars (equivalent to 6.1 million USD) and aims to reach approximately 46,000 adolescents and youth.
These projects will be implemented by pro-abortion organizations, which, in addition to eradicating gender violence, seek to implement abortion. It is important to note that after the constitutional ruling 0206/14, abortion practices were permitted in Bolivia when a woman declares herself a victim of sexual assault.
A law that stands against ideological attacks.
However, facing ideological colonialism, prior to the Canadian minister’s visit, the Legislative Assembly of the Department of Santa Cruz passed Law No. 319, promoting comprehensive protection for life from conception and for the family.
Article 1 of the law establishes the objective of protecting life from the moment of conception until natural death. It also aims to promote the natural family as the primary cell of society, protect marriage between a man and a woman, or de facto unions that meet constitutional conditions. Lastly, it upholds the parents’ right to choose the education they want for their children.
The legal text eliminates ambiguity by defining terms that could impact the application of the law. For instance, it defines conception as the moment when fertilization occurs, initiating human life through the union of male and female gametes to form the zygote or human genome. It establishes the pro-life and pro-family approach as a set of policies or guidelines of the Autonomous Government of Santa Cruz aimed at protecting life from conception and the family, fostering favorable environments for their strengthening and natural development, and providing education to girls, boys, and adolescents according to their parents’ or guardians’ convictions, thoughts, opinions, spirituality, and worship. Another noteworthy definition in this law, found in Article 5, section 8, emphasizes respect for natural law, implying acknowledgment of the natural order based on biological and scientific foundations that support the family. Furthermore, section 10 states that living with dignity is the condition and development of an integral spiritual, mental, and physical life in harmony with God, family, and oneself.
All these definitions aim to expand human protection, family, and parents’ rights to choose their children’s education. The law also rejects and prohibits practices involving commercialization that degrades the unborn or women to the status of objects. It eliminates practices like surrogacy. The law leaves no room for ambiguity regarding conscience rights, expressly guaranteeing them without any restrictions and stating explicitly that no person can be discriminated against or persecuted for conscientiously objecting.
The law establishes a non-negligible right to health, for which the Departmental Autonomous Government will provide health services to family members who attend and/or are transferred to third-level health facilities. This provision is significant, as in highly developed countries like the United Kingdom, life support was withdrawn from baby Indi Gregory, causing her death, even when the Italian government had already requested intervention to transfer the child to continue her treatment with her parents.
Article 17 also provides explicit protection for women whose pregnancy is the result of rape, in which case comprehensive care is provided to the woman, and the possibility of adoption is facilitated afterward.
To effectively implement the law and have a real impact, the law creates a departmental council for life and family, composed of various public and private organizations and institutions, national or foreign, working in support of life and family. The council’s authority includes proposing and participating in the formulation of departmental plans, policies, programs, and projects; acting as a consulting and advisory body for public and private entities; promoting agreements with local, national, and international public or private institutions, among others. Specific funding is also anticipated for this body, which, however, is unlikely to exceed that received by the Canadian government.
A difficult battle to win?
Bolivia boasts a rich culture that embraces human life and family, making it an obvious target for countries and organizations seeking to establish opposing ideologies. Thus, a kind of showdown between the culture and fundamental values of its citizens and the pressure generated by financing unfolds. In this way, through ideological colonialism, the very foundations that make up the Bolivian identity as a nation are attacked.
The law promoted by the Legislative Assembly of Santa Cruz not only marks a milestone for this department but also paves the way for other departments to adopt it. Undoubtedly, it serves as a beacon illuminating all countries, reminding us of the importance of actively defending the fundamental rights of all citizens and their sovereignty.
We urge the Bolivian society not to give up the principles that have solidified it as a nation and thus preserve its cultural integrity and the rights of all its citizens.
This article was reviewed by Gaby Peña, former president of the Citizen Platform for Life and the Family.
