@APROFA, Chile
Recognition of abortion rights in the Chilean Constitutional Convention’s draft charter represents a major step forward for sexual and reproductive health and rights for the region.
On March 15, a majority of Chile’s Constitutional Convention approved the inclusion of an article that would protect the right to an abortion. This would make Chile the first country in Latin America to directly incorporate language related to abortion in its Constitution.
The enshrinement of this right in the new Chilean constitution will not immediately open the possibility for women and pregnant people to end their pregnancies since the text, once fully drafted, must be approved by the majority of the population through a referendum. Subsequently, Chile’s congress would have to approve a law that would enable the exercise of legal abortion, beyond the three grounds that are currently recognized in the country—risk to the life of the mother, fetal non-viability, and rape.
In response to the Chilean Constitutional Convention’s decision, Giselle Carino, Chief Executive Officer of Fòs Feminista, issued the following statement:
This advance for bodily autonomy in Chile adds to the wave of victories in Latin America that began with the decriminalization of abortion in Argentina at the end of 2020, the subsequent decriminalization in Mexico in 2021, and the decision of the Constitutional Court of Colombia at the beginning of 2022. The role played by feminist mobilization through the Green Wave in all these victories has been essential.
While Fòs Feminista welcomes this latest advancement in abortion rights, it acknowledges that there is still work to be done. In several U.S. states, we see distressing rollbacks to abortion rights. Despite these setbacks, women, girls, and gender-diverse people are driving social and political change throughout the region that will undoubtedly paint the continent green sooner rather than later.
