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August 7, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – On August 8, 2018, the pro-life movement in Argentina won a monumental victory: by just a few votes, the Senate rejected the legalization of abortion. This victory, Jose Carmuega of the pro-life group Unidad Provida Argentina told me, was “not just for Argentinians, but for the entire world. It was a sign of hope that inspired our world-renowned ‘Save Both Lives’ slogan.”
The movement that rose up in response to the challenge of the abortion activists in Argentina, which became known as La Ola Celeste (The Light Blue Wave) spread across the continent that year, with pro-lifers from Chile to the Dominican Republic adopting symbolism and marching with blue handkerchiefs, shirts, hats, balloons, and flags. From the air, these marches look like an ocean of pro-lifers, flooding the streets and demanding the protection of pre-born children.
Unidad Provida, which was created when more than 200 pro-life organizations came together in 2018, is one of several pro-life organizations that has taken the lead in organizing the “Actions For Both Lives International Day,” a day of celebration, strategizing, and inspiration. COVID-19 has forced organizers to cancel the planned marches this year—last year they launched an international party to commemorate their 2018 victory—but like the digital marches in countries like Canada and Ireland, they plan to host “high impact interviews” and “reports to explain and showcase the work of The Light Blue Wave” on their YouTube channel on August 8.
Twenty-six-year-old Camila Duro, who works with the pro-life group Frente Joven (I interviewed her shortly following the Argentinian victory in 2018) told me that the push to legalize abortion in Argentina has been relentless. On December 12, 2018, the Argentinian Ministry of Health issued a protocol intended to expand abortion in hospitals if the pregnancy resulted from sexual assault. The protocol also stipulated that girls as young as thirteen could procure abortions without either parent knowing. This, Duro told me, is “an unrestricted expansion of the ‘causes’ to make ‘legal’ abortions from a verdict of our Supreme Court in 2012.”
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Abortion activists also launched their “Niñas no madres” (Girls no mothers) Campaign, with celebrities posting pictures of themselves as children and “telling distorted tales to the people” to push for legalization. As a result, Duro told me, the pro-life movement faces “a huge problem. Our new government [elected in 2019] is frankly supportive of the ‘legal abortion’ cause. We are about to celebrate the second anniversary of ‘8A’ (the date of the abortion law’s rejection) but we know that the most powerful people—politicians, celebrities, etc.—are doing their best to see abortion approved in Argentina. By the way, abortion isn’t just a political thing—the people who work to legalize abortion are also trying to normalize it in our culture.”
Despite that, the Blue Wave movement that put millions of people on the streets in 2018 and since is not going anywhere. In the past two years, Duro observed, “we were able to consolidate as a movement and we acquired an identity. We’re more connected, and we need to work hard to see our ideas represented in the public and in politics. This blue flag isn’t a whim. We’re fighting to see a Culture of Life in our countries, and we need to be in this together. There’s a new pro-life generation that wants societies without abortion and respect for all human life.”
Abortion activists, for the moment, appear to have the political power, while the growing pro-life movement has the manpower. The pro-lifers of the Light Blue Wave are inviting pro-lifers from around the world to join them on August 8, and seek their support and solidarity from afar. “In Argentina, we feel your warm regards and your prayers,” Duro told me. “Thank you all.”
