Ministry of Culture demands pro-lifers pay back money used for march

Brasilia, Brazil, Sep 1, 2009 / 21:06 pm

Brazil’s Ministry of Culture is demanding that pro-lifers who were involved in the Third National March for Life this past Sunday in Brasilia pay back the public funding they were given for the event.

The Ministry claims organizers of the event “omitted information in the presentation of the plan” by not indicating that the march was a protest against the attempts to legalize abortion in Brazil.

Pro-life leaders denounced the claims as completely false and said their intentions were clearly spelled out to Ministry officials, who granted approval for the use of funds for the march.

The National Movement of Citizens for Life (NMCL) rejected the government’s demand that some $60,000 from the public coffers be returned and said, “The minister’s actions reveal an anti-democratic attitude because he is denying the right to protest of more than 90 percent of the Brazilian population, which believes life should be defended from the moment of conception.”

Reiterating that the march as well as all the activities of the NMCL were “approved beforehand by the Federal Government,” pro-life leaders called on Catholics to help defray the costs of the event, as the Ministry of Culture has also blocked access to the movement’s bank accounts.