Chileans to vote on conservative constitution draft a year after rejecting leftist charter

Chileans are voting on whether to approve a new constitution that will replace the country’s dictatorship-era charter

SANTIAGO, Chile -- Chileans are voting Sunday on whether to approve a new constitution that will replace the country’s dictatorship-era charter.

The vote comes over a year after Chileans resoundingly rejected a proposed constitution written by a left-leaning convention and one that many characterized as one of the world’s most progressive charters.

The new document, largely written by conservative councilors, is more conservative than the one it seeks to replace because it would deepen free-market principles, reduce state intervention and might limit some women’s rights.

If the new charter is rejected, the Pinochet-era constitution — which was amended over the years —- will remain in effect.

One of the most controversial articles in the proposed new draft says that “the law protects the life of the unborn,” with a slight change in wording from the current document that some have warned could make abortion fully illegal in the South American country. Chilean law currently allows the interruption of pregnancies for three reasons: rape, an unviable fetus and risk to the life of the mother.