The Minister of Women and Gender Equality, Antonia Orellana, referred to the results of the votes in the Constitutional Council, which could have a negative impact on women’s sexual reproductive rights in the future.
In this context, the Foreign Minister stressed that this would create obstacles, including in access to the morning-after pill, based on the legal analysis collected.
“What was approved today would allow us to even take the morning-after pill again“ It’s not a legal discussion that has no impact,” he said Radio ADN.
The plenary session of the Constitutional Council approved the norm establishing the right to life, as well as the statement that “the law protects the life of the unborn,” and also approved their application institutional conscientious objection which would have an impact on the Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy Act (IVE) for three reasons.
They also rejected the popular initiative for a standard that aimed to enshrine sexual and reproductive rights in the new proposed constitution.
Regarding the current situation, Minister Orellana explained: “It is something that needs to be evaluated by citizens“.
Regarding progress in emergency contraception (ECP), he recalled that this discussion even reached the Constitutional Court at times. He is currently emphasizing that his efforts are important in order to prevent unwanted pregnancies in a timely manner.
“The Constitutional Council is an autonomous body elected for these purposes, so as a government we respect this autonomy. Personally, it worries me because we are talking about the impact of the morning after pill, which has been so important in reducing teenage pregnancy in Chile. Not even the 1980 Constitution was incompatible with the morning-after pill.” he concluded.
