October 7 is the deadline for the Constitutional Council to deliver the draft text of the new Magna Carta with the amendments it made to the moderate draft that was previously prepared by the Expert Commission and that was agreed upon by consensus from the president’s ruling party. from the Chilean leftist Gabriel Boric to the opposition. There are several modifications, many of them promoted by the Republican Party, of the radical and conservative right, which in May took 22 of the 50 seats on the Council, followed by 11 from Chile Vamos of the traditional right and which, according to the ruling party, with 17 seats, some imply regressions in women’s rights.
From the ruling party they mention the approved norm that refers to the right to life of the unborn that could collide with the law on voluntary interruption of pregnancy in three cases that has been in force since 2017 and, another, conscientious objection that also covers institutions and that, for the center-left, in addition to abortion in three cases, could affect the delivery of the morning after pill. An article was added, which was rejected, and which was transitory, which made parity possible so that in the next two parliamentary elections there would be seats reserved for any of the genders that obtained less than 40%.
“Norms have been established that, frankly, are setbacks for women,” lawyer Alejandra Krauss, a member of the Christian Democracy, of the moderate center-left, of the Expert Commission, told EL PAÍS. She exemplifies with the modification to the phrase of the current Constitution, “the law protects the life of the unborn,” which she left in the draft, “the law protects the life of the unborn.” On the other hand, the commission’s preliminary draft only mentioned the right to life. “When you talk about who, you are already talking about a person. There are amendments that not only imply the validity of the 1980 Constitution that we have wanted to change for decades, but much further, ”he says.
And he adds, as another regression, the rejection of the parity norm: “They voted against arguing that meritocracy is the great tool for women. This thesis of meritocracy is already overcome. “This has to do with equity and justice, not just with feminist currents solely and exclusively.” It is also a setback, says the expert and doctor of law, Leslie Sánchez, of the ruling party, since both the Expert Commission and the Constitutional Council are bodies that have equal integration, 50% for each gender. For this reason, she adds, if parity had not existed, “we would not be here.” “Political inequality in Chile is historical, it did not start yesterday. And to narrow that gap, it has to be with concrete mandates. It cannot be voluntary.”
We do not close paths to women, on the contrary, we believe that there are better mechanisms without altering the legitimate and democratic result of an election, and that the public policies necessary to reconcile work and family life should also be promoted, only then can… https://t.co/Td84ClriWa
— M. Angeles López Porfiri (@angeleslpo) September 26, 2023
Even two opponents of the Boric Government have joined the criticism for the rejection of parity. One of them is the advisor for Evópoli, from the traditional right, Gloria Hutt, who gave Republicans the responsibility of “closing paths to new leaders.” Also Isabel Plá, from the UDI, and former Minister of Women and Gender Equality in the Government of Sebastián Piñera (2018-2022): “Why so much resistance to parity? The rule is reasonable, temporary (two elections) and would accelerate the incorporation of women into Congress. “I hope it recovers in the next phase.”
This is Chile’s second attempt to change the Constitution that was born in 1980 during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), but which has been reformed about 60 times since 1989, and since 2005 it has even been signed by socialist president Ricardo Lagos ( 2000-2006). In September 2022, 62% voted against the proposal for a convention that was made up of a majority of the radical left and without militancy. This new process, which began in March 2022, has been uphill, since according to the majority of public opinion polls it does not enjoy either interest or confidence on the part of Chileans and that the option of a new rejection has gone on the rise.
But not everything is settled, as other stages are coming, although with little room for negotiation. Therefore, faced with the adverse scenario, the political class is trying against the clock to save the process. And what will be experienced from October 7 will be key. According to the procedure of the process, when the final text is delivered by the Constitutional Council, the Expert Commission must prepare a report in which it can make observations. If there is not quoruma mixed commission is formed.
He that, he who and abortion
For Republicans, the change of that for him who It is not a fundamental modification, but rather it replaces what the current Constitution states, “underlining that whoever grows in the womb is someone,” said his advisor, lawyer Luis Silva. This, while Beatriz Hevia, lawyer and president of the Constitutional Council, from the same party, emphasized that “the abortion issue has to be resolved in Congress” and that in the proposal “we are not making any changes that could affect the abortion law.” on three grounds.”
But in the interpretation of the ruling party’s lawyers who make up the constitutional process, the new statement does put the abortion law at risk on three grounds. “When talking about the life of the unborn, it recognizes ownership of rights to the embryo, going beyond the 1980 Constitution,” said Verónica Undurraga, president of the Expert Commission, independent of the Party for Democracy (PPD). , from the ruling center-left, and a specialist in comparative constitutionalism and human rights. Antonia Rivas, from Convergencia Social, the same community as Boric, has joined in: “Women in this draft are considered those who care, those in charge of reproduction, people who are denied the impulse for political participation,” said in an interview in the third.
Even the mayor of Providencia Evelyn Matthei, of the UDI, the main presidential candidate of the traditional right, who according to polls widely surpasses the Republican leader José Antonio Kast in preferences, has raised her voice: “In my opinion, he has no “There is no point in touching abortion on three grounds.” He said this in two interviews he gave a week ago, in which he also warned that the constitutional process “is headed for failure and the only way to close this issue is to have a final text as similar as possible to the text of the experts.” ”, but who, even so, says that he wants it to be approved.
“Insane” has been said regarding women’s rights in the constitutional project; and that “civilizational advances are fading.”
I dispute that.
1. For the first time, at a constitutional level, a norm is established that is equivalent to that of the French Constitution in that… https://t.co/o8eIdluanw pic.twitter.com/w1nxHZ359G— Natalia Gonzalez (@natigonzalez_b) September 27, 2023
Institutional conscientious objection
The approval of another standard has also raised a legal, technical and political discussion in Chile. It is “the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right includes the freedom of every person to adopt the religion or beliefs of his or her choice, to live in accordance with them, to transmit them, and to object to individual and institutional conscientious objection. Its exercise, due respect and protection will be guaranteed.”
The controversy of the amendment is in the extension to institutional consciousness, which in Chile until now only three grounds are applied in the abortion law. “It enables pharmacies to refuse to distribute the morning-after pill,” said socialist commissioner Flavio Quezada, who also warned of other effects that, he noted, could affect sexual diversities. “It disproportionately affects women. Outside the classic scope of objection in the military, conscientious objections typically seek to avoid the provision of health and reproductive services for women. There are objections to prescribing contraception, sterilization and the legal termination of pregnancies,” Verónica Undurrgaga added in the plenary debate.
And, in a column in EL PAÍS, by Luis Eugenio García-Huidobro, lawyer and researcher at the Center for Public Studies (CEP), he warned that institutional conscientious objection “is not limited solely to abortion and is extremely difficult to anticipate.” , but rather “enshrines the right of institutions (legal or moral persons) to raise a conscientious objection to exempt themselves from compliance with legal mandates, a prerogative that is recognized as part of the essential core of freedom of thought, conscience and religion.”
The Chilean constitutional process culminates on December 17, when the final text is submitted to a plebiscite.
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