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By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

“Feminism once sought Justice.  The distortion of feminism, the manipulation of its flags, the deformation of its contents, the commitment of its followers for the Cause of Evil in the world, is an incontestable act of treason.” – Rosario Murillo, First Lady of Nicaragua

MANAGUA, September 12, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Nicaragua’s first lady has issued a scathing denunciation of the international feminist movement in response to its ongoing attacks against her husband regarding the nation’s anti-abortion law.

Rosario Murillo, who is the wife of President Daniel Ortega as well as his spokesman, denounced feminists who “proclaim abortion, without respect for the culture and the collective soul of the people.”

“Their values,” she wrote, “represent the Old Society, exclusive, unjust, and impoverishing… where men and women…prefer to raise pets instead of children, and depopulate and disharmonize the Earth.”

“This is junk ‘feminism’,” continued Murillo. “And furthermore, as I already said, it is in the hands of women who neither live as women, nor know the feminine soul, individual or collective.  They ignore our daily battles; they are not the flesh and bone of a woman.  They have no family ties or stable affections; they disdain those blessed ties of unconditional affection, indispensible for healthy human development.”

“Favorites of ‘elegant’ perfumed democracy, they are able to mix politics and sexism, like totalitarian and exclusive judges, who only recognize their own models, their particular lifestyle options, their emotional criteria, and their political tendencies.”

Murillo added, “They don’t admit that women opt for routes that are constructive for women, with an inclusive conscience, a maternal instinct, and a sense of family, of a couple, and of human brotherhood.  They do not accept that men and women believe in a different future, and that we work together, creating the indispensable difference between today and tomorrow.”

Despite their socialist origins, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and his Sandinista party have promoted and passed legislation banning all abortions, excepting procedures necessary to save the mother’s life.

Since his first administration in the 1980s, which brought him into conflict with the Catholic hierarchy, Ortega and his wife have reconciled with the Church, and were married sacramentally by a Catholic priest in 2004.  However, Murillo reportedly clings to certain superstitions, including the wearing of numerous necklaces and rings that she believes will ward off evil spirits.

The Sandanistas’ opposition to abortion has brought them into conflict with numerous feminist groups in Nicaragua, many of which have ties to international organizations.  It has also provoked protests from Scandinavian countries in Europe, and is believed to be the motive for the recent elimination of foreign aid by Sweden.

The conflict with local feminist groups came to a head in 2007 over the celebrated “Rosita” case, in which a nine year old girl’s pregnancy was used by the feminist “Women’s Network Against Violence” to promote the cause of “therapeutic” abortion in Nicaragua and Central America. 

After the Network publicized the case and obtained an abortion for “Rosita”, it was revealed that she had been impregnated by her stepfather, and the abortion had enabled him to cover up his crime for several years, during which he continued to abuse the girl. Several members of the Network remain under investigation for their role in the affair.

In response, the Network’s members have renewed an accusation originally made against Ortega in 1998 that he had sexually abused his stepdaughter, Zoilamerica Narvaez.  They claimed they were being persecuted for having defended Narvaez in the case, and galvanized feminist groups throughout Latin America against the Ortega regime.  Ortega and his wife have denied the claims, which they say are politically motivated. 

After coming under international pressure from the same feminist organizations, prosecutors seem to have halted their investigation into the feminists who were allegedly complicit in the cover up of the sexual abuse of “Rosita”, sparking protests from pro-life groups.

Despite the pressure from both domestic and international organizations and governments, Ortega, Murillo, and the Sandinistas have maintained their 100% pro-life policy with regard to surgical abortions, and have defended their position vigorously.

Ortega gave a speech in December of last year denouncing the attacks on the nation’s pro-life legislation. 

“It’s totally false, what they go around saying, that heaps of women are dying because the penalization of therapeutic abortion was approved in the National Assembly,” he said, and added, “That is a huge lie, a falsehood!” 

He went on to explain that life-saving procedures are not prohibited by the law. “The ideal is to save both.  If, in the end, tragically, he (the doctor) couldn’t save both, logically the mother or the child will have survived, and this is not penalized, it is not penalized!”

Although Ortega has grown closer to the Catholic Church, he still maintains close ties with political movements that have historically been hostile to Christianity, including the socialist governments of Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia, as well as the terroristic rebel forces of the FARC in Colombia.

Related LifeSiteNews Coverage:

Government of Finland Pressures Nicaragua to Legalize Abortion
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08040907.html

Nicaraguan President Defends Abortion Policy before European Delegation
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08012402.html

Nicaraguan President Denounces International Media for Campaign Against Country’s Anti-Abortion Laws
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08010804.html

Human Rights Watch Denounced for “Anti-Democratic Imperialism”, Hypocrisy
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/nov/07110803.html

Human Rights Group Files Charges Against Nicaraguan Abortion Lobby
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/nov/07111904.html

Nicaragua Overwhelmingly Renews Total Abortion Ban in 66-3 Vote
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/sep/07091308.html

Sweden Cuts Aid to Countries that Oppose its Pro-Abortion Stance
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/aug/07083106.html

Pro-Abortion Group in Nicaragua Caught Aiding Rapist Escape Criminal Investigation
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/aug/07081602.html

EU Threatens to Withdraw Aid to Nicaragua if Pro-Life Law Remains
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/feb/07020902.html

Nicaragua Congress Passes New Law Outlawing All Abortions
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/oct/06102604.html