The 24 members of this panel endorsed a norm that sets out the obligation of the state to ensure access to health, housing, water and sanitation, education and social security without discrimination or arbitrary differentiation.
They also affirmed the right to personal, physical and mental integrity. No one should be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, and in this sense the use of the death penalty was prohibited.
A much-discussed issue was the amendment tabled by representatives of right-wing parties calling for a guarantee of the life of the unborn child, which implied the ban on abortion for any reason.
Finally, this text was rejected by the majority of the members of the expert committee.
In Chile, abortion is only allowed if the fetus is not viable, if there is a proven danger to the life or health of the woman, or if the pregnancy is the result of rape.
The project embodied “the right to freedom of expression, information and opinion, without prior censorship, in any form and by any means, without prejudice to subsequent liability for crimes or abuses committed in the exercise.”
Another recognized norm was the guarantee of religious freedom, which provides for the possibility of worship and individual or collective professing, maintaining and changing beliefs.
The right to propagate religion, both publicly and privately, is also enshrined through worship, celebration of rites, practices and teachings not contrary to morality, good customs or public order.
The experts ratified the four states of emergency contained in the current Magna Carta: Assembly, Siege, Exception and State of Emergency.
Among other things, they laid down a list of duties for the people of Chile, which include the support, nutrition, education and protection of their children and which must be reciprocated by them to their fathers, mothers and ancestors when they need them.
The deadline to continue analyzing and voting on the draft of the Basic Law is June 6 at the latest, and a day later the content will be presented to the Constitutional Council, the body responsible for the final draft.
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