By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

LA PAZ, BOLIVIA, January 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Bolivia will hold a nationwide referendum this Sunday to approve or reject a new constitution containing pro-abortion language, and providing special rights for homosexuals and “transgender” people.

The new document will also nullify Bolivia’s existing recognition of Catholicism, declaring that the government adheres to no religion.

Article 66 of the new constitution would “guarantee to women and men the exercise of their sexual and reproductive rights,” a phrase that is customarily used by international pro-abortion organizations to refer to the “right” to abortion and contraception.

Article 14, paragraph 2, states that “the government prohibits and sanctions all forms of discrimination based on … sexual orientation, gender identityâEUR¦” The article may give homosexual activists access to religious institutions, schools, and daycare centers, and well as open the door to homosexual “marriage” and adoption of children.

The article’s assertion of rights to “gender identity” refers to the “right” of individuals to decide what gender they have, independent of their actual physical gender. If approved, it will be the first constitutional recognition of homosexualist “gender identity” ideology in history, requiring men who claim they are women to be recognized and treated as such.

The new charter document also abolishes all recognition of Christianity, which appears in the current Constitution, instead establishing “the independence of the State from religion” in article 4.

Opponents of the constitution have launched an ad campaign asking, “Did you know they want to send God out of Bolivia?” In addition, the Catholic bishops of the country have made a public critique of the document, acknowledging some virtues but warning about the threats to human life and family values.

The bishops are concerned that the proposed constitution “contains various contradictions and an impreciseness that could make its application difficult.”

In addition to pro-abortion and homosexualist language in the document, the bishops point to an article that declares that people who attack the “unity” of the country will be guilty of treason.

For his part, Bolivian President Evo Morales, a socialist, says that his opponents are telling “lies,” and that the document is not pro-abortion.

Morales has recently clarified that, although he is an “admirer” of Christ and regards himself as a “Catholic,” he also associates himself with Earth-worship.

“I believe strongly in the rites and in Mother Earth (Pachamama),” Morales said. The Catholic religion, however, prohibits paganism and the adoration of any being other than God.

Morales admits that his constitution has many fans in European and American universities, who say, according to him, that “this Constitution proposed for the Bolivian people is the most advanced in the world in social terms.”

Related Links:

Full Text of Bolivia’s Proposed Constitution
https://www.gobernabilidadandina.org/descarga/1231904466.pdf