By Jonathon Van Maren
In her 2018 book Target Africa: Ideological Neocolonialism in the Twenty-First Century and subsequent documentary Strings Attached, Nigerian pro-life activists Obianuju Ekeocha details how Western democracies utilize foreign aid to push their abortion agenda in Africa.
The aid packages they present to African countries, she notes, comes with ideological strings attached — in exchange for desperately needed help, Western groups bring in abortion and the LGBT agenda to countries with populations which abhor both. The Justin Trudeau government has been pouring millions of Canadian taxpayer dollars into the abortion industry and Africa is a key target.
Several years ago, Conservative Canadian Member of Parliament Garnett Genuis responded to news that abortion was being pushed illegally in some African countries by asking Canada’s then-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chrystia Freeland, if she was certain that Marie Stopes — an international abortion provider that has been kicked out of several African countries for breaking laws against abortion — was not breaking the law in countries where it currently operates with the assistance of Canadian funding.
Freeland refused to answer the question and instead went on a tirade about the Liberal Party’s support for abortion — which is an admission of sorts.
As it turns out, African leaders do not care for being lectured by Canadian progressives. Genuis, who now serves as the Conservative shadow minister for international development, recently asked Ugandan MP Lucy Akello, who was speaking to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development on March 14, how Canada could orient its aid towards the needs of local communities rather than “bringing in predetermined western priorities.” Akello was blunt in her response.
“It seems no matter how much money will be spent on making abortion look good, our people still see through the money, marketing, and mass education,” she said. “Almost 80% of African countries have some sort of law prohibiting and restricting abortion. And it is predicated on a widely held belief that unborn babies have a right to life and deserve to be protected by law. Africa has a long history of colonization, just like Canada — of people, foreign governments, foreign-led organizations telling us what is good for us or what or priorities should be.”