Popular Mexican Actor Speaks Out Against Abortion

Reprinted with permission from California Catholic Daily
LOS ANGELES, May 8, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Model, singer and actor ,
"heartthrob" of countless women in Mexico and Latin America for his romantic
leads in Spanish-language soap operas ("Herida de Amor," "Salomé", "Tres
Mujeres") and movies ("My Gardener," "Chasing Papi"), Eduardo Verastegui has
become one of the most eloquent voices against abortion in Mexico and the
U.S.

The singer/model/actor, once caught up in the hot "vida loca" of
self-indulgence, glamour, and money, says he has no fear of public rejection
for denouncing "the holocaust of abortion." Verastegui has explained his
pro-life convictions to various Mexican media outlets and has created an
organization in California to help those in need, especially women who are
experiencing untimely or difficult pregnancies.

In an interview with the magazine Hola, he said he was "very frustrated over
what is happening in Mexico today. I think there is tremendous manipulation
of the news that the Mexican people are being given. The law is based on
lies, because abortion is a crime."

Abortion, Verastegui told the magazine, is "something so grave, so profound,
it goes beyond any philosophy or religion."

The Mexican actor went on to say there is no justification for abortion.
"Let women do with their bodies what they wish, but the baby? What happens
to the baby who has no voice and can't defend himself? Perhaps 100 years ago
there could have been doubts… that there was life from the moment of
conception. But today it is something scientifically proven, there is no
doubt."

He said that his own experience has shown that "most women who go there do
not want to do it. It is something completely unnatural. I have been to
clinics and when I talk with young women, they are scared, they feel alone
and without help.

For many years Verastegui said he sought happiness in fame and in success
but as time went on he realized he was "empty."

"In my search to know what was beyond this emptiness, I began to ask myself
the great questions that everyone asks at some point in life: What am I
doing in this universe? Where do I come from? Where am I going? What's the
meaning of all this? And in this search… I realized I had been selfish,
walking ahead blindly in vanity and pride... I wanted to do good things and
I was not doing them," he said.

The actor said he has now promised himself he would never do anything that
contradicts his moral principles or that would misrepresent Hispanics,
"neither in film, nor in television nor in any other media."

His new movie, "Bella" (to be released on Aug. 15), was the winner of the
People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival last fall. The
independently produced film tells the story of Jose, an international soccer
star who ends up working at his brother's Mexican restaurant, and Nina, a
waitress he meets there. The plot touches on death, abortion, adoption, the
importance of family, and the meaning of love - with the clear message that
every human life is important. "No mere movie, it offers hope for the
beleaguered anti-abortion movement to reverse the political tide running
against it," wrote syndicated columnist Robert Novak on April 30.

When asked what caused such great changes in his life as a man and as an
artist, Verastegui replied, "I was living in constant contradiction. What
changed it was faith --the faith. It was a gift through the prayers of my
mother."