Quito, Ecuador, Oct 11, 2006 / 22:00 pm
The Bishops’ Conference of Ecuador issued a statement this week, condemning certain passages of a new health care law which promotes abortion and the use of the morning-after pill and requires all health-care workers to provide services, even if they have strong moral or religious reservations against doing so.
Bishop Nestor Herrera, President of the Bishops Conference, read a statement denouncing “the attempt to place a state mandate to end a pregnancy above the protection of human life, the rights of parents to educate their children according to their own convictions, and the consciences of doctors and their assistant both in public and private health-care systems.”
The bishops called Ecuadorian Catholics to action against the norms which would require public and private facilities to provide abortion services in some cases. No matter what the circumstances, they said, “procuring an abortion is equivalent to eliminating the life of an innocent child who is distinct from his mother and father from the moment of conception.”
The bishops also denounced the dangers of sex-ed programs that go “against natural and divine law” and promote “the sins of fornication and sexual promiscuity” and do not foster in young people an understanding of love as “commitment and fidelity.”
“Young people who have been psychologically wounded by premature, excessive, and irresponsible erotic experiences have a difficult time achieving happiness in the family,” the bishops underscored.
The bishops called on Catholics and all people of good will to resist the new laws as unjust and unconstitutional and to participate in protests organized by pro-life groups.