(LifeSiteNews) — José Antonio Kast’s recent victory in Chile’s presidential election made waves around the world and deeply upset abortion activists on the continent who viewed his election as a devastating setback to their goals for the country.
Now, according to the Guardian, Kast “has named a vehement opponent of abortion who has repeatedly stated her support for life ‘from conception to natural death’ as the country’s new women and gender equality minister.” Judith Marín is only 30 years old.
Kast, the Catholic father of nine who has been a staunch pro-life advocate throughout his career, recently announced his new cabinet. The international press was swift to point out that his selections emphasize his intention of defeating the abortion agenda in Chile.
“This unity cabinet was not formed to administer normality,” Kast said. “It was brought together to face a national emergency.” Kast named 13 men and 11 women, nearly all known for being staunch conservatives.
Marín will replace Antonia Orellana Guarello, a journalist and abortion activist who spearheaded an 11th-hour attempt by far-left President Gabriel Boric to ramrod a bill that would have legalized abortion throughout the first 14 weeks of pregnancy through Congress in his final months in office.
When the bill was announced last June, Boric claimed it was essential. “Generations of women have lived and fought for this,” he said. “Don’t deny them at least the democratic debate as citizens capable of deciding for themselves.” Leftist legislators waved green bandanas, the symbol of the abortion movement; conservatives jeered Boric and some walked out, shouting, “No abortion!”
The bill is still currently being debated in Chilean Congress.
In 2022, Boric’s proposed pro-abortion constitution — which would have locked many leftist agenda items into law — was rejected by Chilean voters by a landslide 62%. The vote was widely seen as a rejection of Boric’s abortion agenda.
Kast has now made a clear statement by appointing Marín, who “was once ejected from Chile’s senate by police for screaming ‘return to the Lord’ during a vote to decriminalize abortion under restricted circumstances,” according to the Guardian. “She is an evangelical former student church group president who belonged to the Eagles of Jesus, a far-right Christian group which recruits at universities around the country.”
The term “far-right” is used by the press to describe virtually any pro-life Christian politician. As an example of these allegedly extreme views, the Guardian cited the fact that Marín “has publicly questioned the future of the ministry she will now lead and defended the ‘natural family’ — the idea that a man and woman lead a household — as a central tenet of society.” This view is not controversial in South America and was normative in the West until several decades ago.
“Our country is going through a spiritual, social, moral and political crisis, and more than ever we, the children of God, need to stand up,” Marín stated in October.
“Activists fear immediate attacks on Chile’s reproductive rights laws, which currently allow abortion under limited circumstances (rape, fetal inviability, risk to mother),” one progressive news outet noted. “Marín has vowed to roll these back. Funding for gender violence programs and LGBTQ+ protections is also likely on the chopping block.”
“This is not just a change of government; it is a counter-revolution.”
