'Gigantic step backwards': far-right gains in Chile threaten abortion rights

Source: The Guardian

‘Gigantic step backwards’: far-right gains in Chile threaten abortion rights

Concerns mount as ultraconservative Republican party’s ‘right to life’ proposal could be enshrined in constitution

John Bartlett
Mon 21 Aug 2023 10.30 BST
Last modified on Mon 21 Aug 2023 10.42 BST

The hard-won right to an abortion in Chile is at risk of being overturned, activists have warned, as the country’s far right moves to enshrine protection for “the life of the unborn child and maternity” in a new constitution.

Concerns have grown over the ultraconservative Republican party’s plans to pare back reproductive rights in Chile as it now holds significant sway in the fate of the country’s constitutional saga.

“Clearly, there is great concern over the risks to women and children implied by the suggested amendments, which threaten the most basic rights of human beings,” said Lieta Vivaldi, the director of Alberto Hurtado University’s gender and social justice programme.

“In a nation which seeks equality and justice, it is intolerable.”

After a progressive constitutional proposal which would have paved the way for the expansion of women’s rights was decisively shot down by a plebiscite in September 2022, the Republican party swept elections for a new constitutional council in May, winning enough seats to veto legislation.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/aug/21/chile-far-right-new-consitution-abortion

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