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July 26, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Colombian pro-lifers, led by the nation’s Conservative Party, say they have now gathered five million signatures for their petition for a constitutional amendment prohibiting all abortions.

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The figure was reported yesterday in Colombia’s El Espectador newspaper, and attributed to the leader of the Conservative Party, José Darío Salazar.

“These signatures clearly say that the population is against abortion,” said Salazar, a theme that the senator has repeated throughout his campaign to re-criminalize the deadly procedure.

If the count is accurate, it indicates that over ten percent of the country’s population has signed the petition in favor of the amendment, which states: “Life in Colombia is inviolable, and will have the same protection from fertilization until natural death.”

Although the Constitution already states that the right to life is “inviolable,” the Constitutional Court eliminated criminal penalties for abortions in rape and incest cases in 2006, after years of pressure by organs of the United Nations and other pro-abortion groups. The government then began ordering hospitals to perform them, and levied at least one fine against a Catholic hospital that refused to do so.

As LifeSiteNews reported recently, the initiative is backed by members of other political parties and numerous religious leaders, who have aided in the petition drive, including Catholics, Protestants, Jews, and Muslims.

Related LifeSiteNews coverage:

Over 4 million sign massive pro-life petition in Colombia
Prominent Political Party Launches Campaign to Restore Right to Life in Colombia
Colombian religions unite to support pro-life constitutional amendment