(LifeSiteNews) — 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.” 

Akello’s statement appears to be a not-so-veiled shot at the Trudeau government, which has declared that the motivating ideology of its foreign aid is a “strong commitment to gender equality and a feminist lens” — political jargon for abortion. Akello, who represents the Amuru District Women’s Constituency in Northern Uganda, stated that an “overwhelming majority” of Ugandans believe that abortion is “morally unacceptable.”

Trudeau’s Liberals have committed at least $650 million to funding abortions in developing countries. “I also recommend that you respect Uganda as a sovereignty,” Akello stated. Instead of an ideological agenda, she said, what Africans want is to keep “the girl child at school as opposed to giving them contraceptives.” 

Akello’s comments underscore a trend promoted by nearly every Western leader — the export of the LGBT agenda and abortion overseas, and the deliberate interference in the laws, culture, and values of developing nations by including social progressivism in foreign aid packages. Under the guise of assistance, Western nations bring in abortionists, contraceptives, and material promoting alternative sexual lifestyles — they claim to be striving for full bellies, but one of their primary objectives is actually empty wombs. A developed Africa, in the view of most Western leaders, is an Africa with fewer children.  

With friends like Justin Trudeau, Africa really doesn’t need enemies.  

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Follow Jonathon

Jonathon Van Maren is a public speaker, writer, and pro-life activist. His commentary has been translated into more than eight languages and published widely online as well as print newspapers such as the Jewish Independent, the National Post, the Hamilton Spectator and others. He has received an award for combating anti-Semitism in print from the Jewish organization B’nai Brith. His commentary has been featured on CTV Primetime, Global News, EWTN, and the CBC as well as dozens of radio stations and news outlets in Canada and the United States.

He speaks on a wide variety of cultural topics across North America at universities, high schools, churches, and other functions. Some of these topics include abortion, pornography, the Sexual Revolution, and euthanasia. Jonathon holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in history from Simon Fraser University, and is the communications director for the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform.

Jonathon’s first book, The Culture War, was released in 2016.

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