{"id":229033,"date":"2020-08-18T08:14:52","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T13:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=229033"},"modified":"2020-08-17T16:16:41","modified_gmt":"2020-08-17T21:16:41","slug":"light-blue-wave-pro-life-movement-latin-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/light-blue-wave-pro-life-movement-latin-america\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Light Blue Wave’: How the pro-life movement is spreading across Latin America"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The pro-life message has been gaining traction across Latin America these past few years in a movement known as the <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Light Blue Wave<\/span><\/a>.\u201d<\/span> The movement began in August 2018 after the Argentina’s Senate rejected a bill in a <\/span>38-31 vote<\/span><\/a> that would have legalized abortion on demand. Pro-lifers gathered in huge crowds outside sang, danced, and set off fireworks when they heard the results, because life had won in Argentina.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the months leading up to the vote, pro-lifers sought to \u201cmobilize [people] by the millions,\u201d holding massive meetings and collecting more than a million signatures in opposition to abortion. They chose the color blue to represent their movement \u2013 the color of Argentina\u2019s flag and the country\u2019s official religion, Catholicism. Marches were also organized, and more than <\/span>three million<\/span><\/a> diverse groups of people came together to stand for life in an inspiring sea of light blue.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In contrast, <\/span>abortion activists<\/span><\/a> wore green scarves with lettering that read, \u201cSex education to decide. Contraceptives to avoid abortion. Legal abortion to avoid death.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0African pro-life activist destroys myth that poor countries need abortion: It\u2019s \u2018colonization\u2019<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Abortion proponents struggled to break past the Blue Wave that had risen up in Argentina, obtaining only 70,000 signatures on their petition in favor of legalized abortion. When the abortion activists learned they had lost the vote, they reacted with violence in the streets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Abortion advocates’ desire to see the procedure legalized could not dispel the country\u2019s value for life at all stages. As pro-life activist Camilo Duro informed<\/a> writer Johnathon Van Maren, 60% of Argentinians oppose abortion in all cases. This dedication to the preborn made Argentina the perfect starting point for the Light Blue Wave, a movement that flooded across multiple Latin American countries as countless pro-lifers gathered to defend unborn lives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Guatemala\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The Blue Wave poured into Guatemala\u2019s capital in September 2018 when activists began pressuring the government to expand abortion access by weakening the country\u2019s existing abortion laws. Over 20,000 pro-lifers marched in favor of upholding legal protections for preborn humans, carrying photos of children in the womb and holding up signs in support of Guatemala\u2019s pro-life laws.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Abortion advocates were left disappointed when the movement successfully persuaded Guatemala\u2019s government to maintain its commitment to protecting life. This is not the first time the country has fended off an attempt to reverse its pro-life stance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2017, a <\/span>Dutch ship<\/span><\/a>\u00a0operated by the pro-abortion organization Women on Waves was blocked by Guatemala\u2019s military. The organization’s goal was to take Guatemalan women into international waters to give them abortion pills. The ship left after the army explained that Guatemala valued \u201chuman life and the laws in effect in our country.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A Guatemalan resident asked the ship’s crew, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you go to the Netherlands to kill children?\u201d\u00a0hinting at the pro-abortion ‘ideological colonization’<\/a> so frequently pushed upon developing nations by wealthier, Western nations.<\/span><\/p>\n