Select Page

Chileans overwhelmingly reject new constitution introducing abortion

Chilean citizens have voted overwhelmingly to reject a new constitution that would have introduced abortion and removed the current legal protections for unborn children.

62% of Chilean voters rejected the proposed constitution, which committed the state to universal healthcare, various environmental regulations and, perhaps most controversially, included the national legalisation of abortion.

Article 61 of the rejected Constitution stated: “Every person has sexual and reproductive rights. These include, among others, the right to make free, autonomous and informed decisions about one’s own body, the exercise of sexuality, reproduction, pleasure and contraception”. This article then went on to specifically mention “voluntary interruption of pregnancy”.

Abortion is unpopular in Chile

Chile currently has strong legal protections for babies in the womb.

According to Newsweek, polling by the South American market research firm Cadem last year found that, while support for a proposed law that would remove legal protections for babies in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy was growing, only 46 percent supported the law. In contrast, 52 percent were against the proposal.

Only four countries in South America allow abortion, including Argentina and Columbia.

Right To Life UK spokesperson, Catherine Robinson, said: “The Chilean people have made their concerns clear. They want to ensure protections for the unborn child. Chile did not join Ireland in introducing abortion through popular vote”.

Dear reader,

MPs are preparing to vote before Christmas on a Bill that, if passed, will legalise assisted suicide. This is a critical moment for our country.

The introduction of the Bill comes at a time when many elderly people are heading into winter with their Winter Fuel Payment cut by the Government. Palliative care services are in crisis with over 100,000 people dying each year without receiving the palliative care they desperately need. Our wider healthcare system is in a state of crisis, with Labour’s own Health Secretary describing the NHS as “broken”.

Within this context, this proposed assisted suicide law is a disaster waiting to happen.

This Bill is the most serious threat to vulnerable lives since the Abortion Act was introduced in 1967.

It’s now crucial that all MPs and the Government urgently see that there is a large number of voters in each constituency who don’t want this dangerous and extreme change to our laws - changes that would put the vulnerable at risk and see the ending of many lives through assisted suicide.

You can make a difference right now by contacting your MP to ask them to stop assisted suicide from being rushed into law. It only takes 30 seconds using our easy-to-use tool, which you can access by clicking the button below.