100,000 Chilean pro-lifers gather to protest against abortion bill
About 100,000 pro-life protesters gathered in Santiago, Chile to participate in the "Celebrate Life" rally last Saturday.
Evangelical Christians and Catholics are challenging the pro-abortion bill pushed by Chilean president Michele Bachelet. The legislation will allow the termination of pregnancies for the unborn who were conceived in rape, those with medical conditions deemed to be incompatible with life, and cases which endanger the mother.
The Christian Democratic Party was criticized at the rally for its support for the bill. "It is a mockery that members of a party that calls itself 'Christian' dare to legalize the killing of the innocent," said Carmen Croxatto of Chile's Pro-Life Pro-Family Network.
Pro-life leaders made the promise that they will not vote for any candidate or party that supports the bill. Elizabeth Bunster of Chiles es Vida expressed her concern that even abortion in limited cases can end up with "horrific consequences."
"The Christian Democrats need to understand that if they don't stop this legislation, they will be responsible for the resulting deaths of the innocent, the suffering for women and the destruction which follows in abortion's path," she added.
Christian Democrats have previously opposed the legislation due to their concerns about the provision that allows abortion in cases of rape. Sen. Carolina Goic, the party's leader, surprisingly voted in favor of the bill.
Socialists have been vocal in their support for the bill. "We believe it's an atrocity to force an 11-year-old girl, victim of rape, to keep her baby, or to risk the life of a woman when her pregnancy can cause her death," said Socialist Party Sen. Fulvio Rossi.
The pro-abortion bill was approved by three out of five senators this Tuesday. The draft still needs to go through the constitutional commission before it can be debated in the higher chamber.
Reforming Chile's abortion laws was one of Bachelet's campaign promises when she ran for re-election in 2013. Abortion was legalized in Chile in 1930 but the dictator Augusto Pinochet banned the procedure in 1989.
