The following comes from an August 4 Aleteia article by Obianuju Ekeocha. Ekeocha  was born and raised in Nigeria. She has a BSc in Microbiology from the University of Nigeria and an MSc in Biomedical Science from the University of East London. She is currently living and working as a Specialist Biomedical Scientist in England. She is a founding member of Culture of Life Africa, an initiative dedicated to the promotion and propagation of the Gospel of Life in Africa through the dissemination of good information, sensitization and education.

I am proud of my cultural heritage which is indeed multi-faceted, rich and profound in many ways, but deep within the traditional practices of my ancestors were some really dark patches that hearing about them even at the tender age of 10 , I could classify these particular practices as primitive, inhumane, incompatible with civilized society.

Thankfully, for almost a century now, there has been a new era ushered in with the heralds of the Gospel.  For while the beautiful bulk of our cultural heritage has been preserved, my country (Nigeria) has worked hard to eradicate completely through laws and societal codes, the dark elements within it that hurt and harmed men, women and children in the centuries past.

So today my people bask in both the wonderful splendour of culture and the powerful illumination of faith. Knowing what we know, there is no way we could ever go back to the shadows.

Today in my country we understand that it is indeed evil to kill another human being , old or young, rich or poor, born or unborn.

To kill is evil, but to kill and cut open another human being to take their organs…now, this is an abomination. It is the most horrific abomination from the deepest, darkest abyss where the very worst elements of the past have been relegated.

In fact, I never imagined that in my 21st century “modern” era I will ever re-live my grandmother’s 1920’s stories of killing of newborn twin babies and primitive native “medicine men” (known in my Igbo language as dibia) who in order to “consult with the gods” would demand animal (and sometimes human) hearts, livers and lungs.

These were figments of a dark and hidden past of an African tribe and so never did I imagine that I will encounter them in this modern day and age.

But here I am living in Europe where abortion is raised and praised as a woman’s right to choose.

And here I am listening to the horrific words rolling off the tongue of an American abortionist who casually talked about harvesting human hearts, livers and lungs from tender unborn babies.

Barbarism now parades in broad day light.

And in the light, it looms ugly and unsightly.

Planned Parenthood, the main organization implicated in a series of exposés, claim that their abortionists have done nothing wrong despite the fact that they have been caught on camera talking about their repulsive work.

The abominable evil practices that my grandparents’ generation fought and buried almost a century ago in Africa, has somehow made it out in the western world . Still every bit repulsive and recognizable but now couched in very soft and sophisticated language like “choice,” women’s health,”  “sexual rights” and “tissue donation program.” Barbarism now wears a beautiful robe and so can roam freely among the civilized.

The question is, can a society that is shackled by the chains of political correctness dare to do what my “uneducated” ancestors have done in Africa? Can we subdue and bury the barbaric?

Can we even dare to draw a line in the sand to stop an organization which is a giant in its own rights?
So I humbly beg you dear American legislators to do what my ancestors courageously did in Africa at the beginning of last century — bury every single barbaric and inhumane practice together with the deceptive language that strengthens, shrouds and shields it. Defend human life and human dignity today around the world by defunding Planned Parenthood in all its alter-egos and incarnations.