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Famous Model and TV Announcer Wins Battle to Protect Life and Family Values in Ecuadoran Constitution

Ruling party acceded to practically all demands of Rosanna Queirolo and fellow representative Diana Acosta

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

ECUADOR, April 1, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Rosanna Queirolo doesn't fit the standard profile of a pro-life activist.  She's a former model who has posed in skimpy outfits in Ecuadoran magazines, and is a committed environmentalist who believes in man-made global warming.  She was recently elected to Ecuador's constitutional convention, its "Constituent Assembly", on the socialist ticket.

But Queirolo has surprised her political party by becoming the Assembly's most outspoken and aggressive advocate of human life and family.  It has earned her bitter denunciations from fellow members of the socialist Alianza PAIS and plaudits from Ecuador's pro-life majority.  Now, Queirolo appears to be winning her battle to preserve family values in the nation's constitution.

Queirolo began to provoke the ire of her socialist colleagues in recent weeks when she opposed attempts to insert language allowing homosexual unions into the new constitution, a measure favored by President Rafel Correa, also of Alianza PAIS.

"God made us to procreate and the only way to procreate is through the union of a man with a woman.  A constitution cannot include just any human invention," she said.

She further incensed homosexual activists when she objected to the inclusion of the word "sexual preference" in the document instead of "sexual orientation", warning that the former term was less well defined and could lead to the approval of pedophilia and even bestiality.

The conflict between Queirolo and Alianza PAIS, which controls a majority of seats in the Constituent Assembly, heated up when Queirolo participated in street demonstrations demanding that God be mentioned in the new constitution as it is in the old, and that the traditional family and the right to life be protected. 

She was also personally present to accept 100,000 signatures from a group of evangelical protestants who were petitioning to oppose changing the constitution to remove the name of God and the right to life.

Although opinions differ within the ranks of Alianza PAIS, President Rafel Correa, who founded the party, has stated his wish to remove the invocation of God from the preamble of the constitution and to open the door to homosexual unions. 

The party is willing to leave a reference to the right to life intact, but members have made it clear that they interpret the passage as allowing what they call "therapeutic abortions", a vague term that allows the procedure for a wide variety of purported "health" reasons (see recent LifeSiteNews coverage at http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08033101.html).

Her fellow party members accused her and fellow representative Diana Acosta, who has joined Queirolo in many of her battles, of allying themselves with "right-wing" forces seeking to use such issues to sink the new constitution.

"They're using topics such as gay marriage, the decision to mention or not mention the name of God, and abortion, to generate opposition to the text of the constitution," said representative Betty Amores during one of the Assembly hearings.  She called on Queirolo and Acosta to resign because they "have committed a grave ethical transgression" by marching with pro-lifers.

However, Queirolo was undeterred, stating that "my principles are non-negotiable" and threatening to take to the streets again if pro-life and pro-family principles were not included in the Constitution.  She claimed to have gathered 50 signatures from other representatives in the Assembly supporting her position.

"It's no secret that my principles, my values, my beliefs are different from those of many from my party," she told the Ecuadoran publication El Universo on March 25. "I will defend what I believe: invoking the name of God in the preamble, life without restrictions, and family."

"It is necessary to enshrine the beliefs of the majority in the constitution," she added, referring to the strong pro-life and pro-family sentiments of Ecuadorans.

Last night the conflict came to a head in a closed door meeting between Queirolo, Acosta, and the leadership of Alianza PAIS, including President Rafael Correa.  The two women successfully faced down the party, which acceded to practically all of their demands.

The party's leadership promised that it would incorporate "the name of God in an ecumenical manner" in the new constitution, and stated clearly that "the new Constitution will guarantee life, and it will recognize it and protect it in all of its stages, including care and protection from conception."

Finally, the party agreed that "matrimony will be maintained as a union of a man and a woman, recognizing free unions," but stated also that it would "not discriminate against anyone because of their sexual orientation", making it unclear if the party's position was still compatible with homosexual "civil unions".

Queirolo's impressive victory could herald a bright future for her in Ecuadoran politics.  She has attracted significant press attention in her battle for life and family issues, and has shown uncompromising and determined leadership.  Despite powerful opposition from the nation's president and the PAIS establishment, she is winning the fight to protect the traditional values of the Ecuadoran people.

Although the 40-year-old Queirolo may be most notable to Ecuadorans as a beautiful model, and later a TV anchorwoman and triathlon competitor, her educational achievements are impressive and substantial.  She is bilingual, and has a master's degree in commercial engineering from an American university, as well as other degrees and certifications in family orientation and sports nutrition.  Her educational background and diverse career give her a firm foundation for her political role, one that could transform her increasingly successful foray into politics into a major political career.

Related Links:

Rosanna Queirolo's Official Website (in Spanish)
http://www.acuerdopais.com/blogs/rosanna_queirolo

Previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Ecuador's President and Ruling Party to Seeks to Exclude Mention of God in New Constitution
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08033101.html

Ecuador Churches Submit 100,000 Signatures to Prevent Constitutional Recognition of Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08032704.html

Ecuadoran President Denies Plan to Legalize Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/sep/07090608.html

Ecuadorans Battle Over Abortion in their New Constitution
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/aug/07082912.html

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