Throughout the Americas, there have been numerous social movements advocating for the protection of women’s health and access to reproductive care and abortions. On March 8th, International Women’s Day, thousands of female protesters marched through the streets of Chile’s capital, Santiago, for the legal protection of reproductive rights. A week later, while drafting the country’s new constitution, the elected assembly voted to include the protection of reproductive rights and “a voluntary interruption of pregnancy.” The decision to directly include reproductive rights in the constitution allows for clear and protected liberties which are difficult to overturn or undermine, unlike in many other countries, including the United States.
Chile currently allows for abortions in cases involving the mother’s health, an unviable pregnancy, and rape during the first twelve weeks. Compared to other countries within South and Central America, its abortion laws are liberal, but by explicitly including the protection of reproductive rights and bodily autonomy within the new possible constitution, revoking these protections would be challenging.
While Chilean women continue to strive for more progressive abortion laws, which would allow for all impregnated people to receive greater access to abortion, there has been a positive response to the country’s new steps. “As a woman and a mother of three girls, this means we’ll stop being second-class citizens,” Carla Navea told Reuters. This sign of progress has given women throughout Chile hope that further abortion limitations may be lifted in the future and that regressing to more restrictive rules is less likely.
Chile began rewriting its constitution after the outbreak of protests against the current, outdated constitution, originally introduced by dictator General Augusto Pinochet 40 years ago, in 2019. The constitution failed to adequately serve its citizens, poorly providing education and healthcare and allowing for social injustice. Backed by Chile’s growing number of left-leaning politicians, President Sebastian Pinera proposed an assembly be formed to draft a new constitution, and the congress overwhelmingly passed the bill last October. A 155-person committee, half of whom are women, has been formed and has begun to construct a constitution that better represents and protects Chileans.
In addition to the protection of legal and safe abortions, the committee has made numerous other progressive changes to the constitution, including changes regarding climate change. The new constitution will address the “climate and ecological emergency” the assembly declared, the New York Times said. With the large amount of lithium mining done in Chile, the constitution promises to provide new environmental protections within the industry.
The drafted constitution will still have to pass through the Chilean congress when finished, but the country is hopeful about the potential changes.
Chile has set a fantastic precedent for how to address systemic issues within a nation’s constitution. If successfully implemented, the country could serve as a much-needed example for other countries struggling with their political systems to consider similar changes to better serve their citizens.
