FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday 23 June 2004

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FRONT ROYAL, VA—“Human Life International will not allow Flora Tristán, a prominent anti-life feminist group in Perú, to brazenly claim it’s not pro-abortion, especially as it attacks Congressman Chávez,” stated Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, president of Human Life International, the world’s largest pro-life, pro-family apostolate.

“Flora Tristán’s actions should be exposed for what they are,” continued Euteneuer. “It is hypocritical for Flora Tristán to call Congressman Chávez under ethical investigation while it funnels hundreds of thousands of pro-abortion dollars into Perú,” said Fr. Euteneuer.

A January 15 letter sent by Congressman Héctor Chávez Chuchón, president of Perú’s Congressional Commission on Public Health, denounced the U.S. Agency for International Development’s support of legalized abortion in Perú.

“It’s no wonder,” commented Euteneuer, “Congressman Chávez is the target of radical feminist ire. He exposed and halted former president Fujimori’s sterilization campaign estimated to have sterilized 200,000 women without their knowledge or consent.”

Adds Euteneuer: “Radical feminist groups hypocritically welcome North American interference when it serves their anti-life agenda. Congressman Chávez rightly objected to this form of American imperialism.”

According to a 1999 case study in Perú conducted as part of a UNFPA project to measure cash flows for population activities, “One of Flora Tristán’s principal lines of action is the advocacy, IEC and training aimed at the improvement of reproductive health services, [and] safe abortion. . . . Total funds between 1995 and 1998 fluctuated between U.S. $2.2 million (1995) and U.S. $900,000 (1998). . . . Other funds have come from international NGOs and foundations (e.g. SNV, ICCO, Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation). . . .”

Flora Tristán’s own website promotes legalizing abortion and touts participation in a 1990 meeting in Argentina that resulted in the annual “Day for the Legalization of Abortion” throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Concluded Euteneuer, “Congressman Chávez is a man of principles who is receiving the trashing radical feminists deal out to truth-tellers. Human Life International wholeheartedly supports him in his efforts to avert the intended killing of millions of Peruvians.”

Founded in 1981, Human Life International (www.hli.org) is the world’s largest pro-life, pro-faith, pro-family educational apostolate, with a network of branches and affiliates around the world.