The Council for the Laity of the Bolivian Bishops’ Conference launched an appeal at the end of the annual National Assembly: «We urge the Catholics and the entire society to be on guard against the bills that threaten the dignity of every human person». This was said in direct reference to the bill for the legalization that equates same-sex unions to marriage, in contradiction with the Bolivian Constitution itself, which in Art. 63 recognizes «marriage as the free union between a man and a woman» and with the «laws related to sexual and reproductive rights». The laity of the Church in Bolivia denounced the spread of a true «dictatorship of relativism and gender ideology», which is producing «a variety of illegal and inhuman situations that threaten life and the family». «The family built on the marital union between a man and a woman is the foundation of society and the only one open to the natural and responsible creation of new life», according to a Statement. The «other categories of the family» are «mere “ideological inventions”, recognized by some States». Finally, with regard to the draft for the legalization of abortion and euthanasia, the Council for the Laity of the Bolivian Church recalls that all practices against life, including every form of exploitation and manipulation of human embryos and fetuses, are attacks against the dignity of the human person. Consequently, all pro-life organizations are invited to intensify their activities in defense of human life and the family, including through a network of co-ordination.