Chile will continue to protect unborn babies’ right to life after its parliament rejected a bill Tuesday that would have legalized abortions.
Breitbart reports the lower Chamber of Deputies voted 66-59 to shelve the pro-abortion bill for future consideration. The legislation would have legalized the killing of unborn babies in abortions for any reason up to 14 weeks of pregnancy.
Like most South American countries, Chile protects unborn babies from abortions in almost all circumstances. It allows abortions only in cases of rape, threats to the mother’s life and fatal fetal deformities.
In September, the lower chamber voted to debate the pro-abortion bill, Reuters reports. However, the vote Tuesday means parliament must wait at least a year before it can consider the legislation again, according to the report.
Abortion activists promised to keep fighting to legalize abortion on demand in Chile.
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“We will present it again and again. We will lose as many times as necessary to win a free, legal and free abortion for all women,” pro-abortion MP Maite Orsini said after the vote. “I don’t know when we will introduce it, but I promise we will do it as often as necessary.”
But pro-life advocates remain hard at work, too. Constanza Saavedra, a pro-life advocate in Chile, celebrated the vote as “wonderful news” while calling for more support for mothers in need.
“A reaffirmation that the right to life is still protected in Chile. But we must improve in education, prevention of unwanted pregnancy and support for motherhood. We have a lot to do,” she wrote on Twitter after the vote.
Pro-abortion groups, funded by some of the richest men in the world, are putting pressure on Central and South American countries to legalize the killing of unborn babies in abortions. The United Nations, many European countries and President Joe Biden’s administration are as well. Argentina caved to the pressure in 2020, and the Mexico Supreme Court issued a decision in September that could threaten pro-life laws across the country.
For many years, abortion activists have been working to chip away at Chile’s pro-life laws. In 2017, the country’s highest court ruled that abortions in cases of rape, fatal fetal anomalies and dangers to the woman’s life are constitutional. Reporters witnessed pro-life women crying in the streets after the ruling was announced.
