Women’s rights advocates in Chile have expressed growing concern ahead of the inauguration of conservative leader José Antonio Kast, who is set to assume the presidency on Wednesday.
Kast, a 60-year-old politician known for his strong Catholic beliefs, is widely regarded as the country’s most conservative leader since the era of Augusto Pinochet. Throughout his decades-long political career, he has consistently opposed several reforms aimed at expanding women’s rights and gender equality.
During his time in Congress, Kast voted against the legalisation of divorce in 2004, when Chile was among the last countries in the world to approve the measure. He also opposed legislation passed in 2017 that allowed abortion under limited circumstances, including cases of rape, threats to the mother’s life, or when the fetus is not viable. Since then, he has advocated returning to a total ban on abortion and introducing stricter controls on access to emergency contraception.
Abortion had been permitted in Chile for medical reasons from the 1930s until it was completely banned in 1989 under a decree issued by the military government of Pinochet. Kast, who has openly defended aspects of that regime, has maintained socially conservative positions that critics say reflect the values of that era.
The incoming president’s cabinet choices have further heightened concerns among activists. Kast appointed 30-year-old evangelical activist Judith Marín as minister for women and gender equality. Marín previously disrupted a Senate session in 2017 during debates on abortion decriminalisation, shouting religious slogans before being removed by security.
Andrea Álvarez Carimoney, a public health scholar at the University of Chile, said the appointment sends a strong political signal. She noted that a figure once considered politically marginal will now hold influence over national policy on gender issues.
Kast is also a founder of the Republican Party, whose members previously proposed repealing Chile’s current abortion law. Although such a move would likely face political hurdles, analysts say the administration could still tighten existing regulations to make access more difficult.
Government data indicates that roughly 7,000 legal abortions have been carried out since the three-exception law took effect in 2017. However, studies estimate that more than 100,000 induced abortions occur annually in the country.
Chile’s feminist movement, which mobilised hundreds of thousands of women during recent years, has also faced internal divisions. Activists played a major role in the 2022 attempt to replace the country’s Pinochet-era constitution with a new charter that included abortion rights and gender equality provisions. The proposal was ultimately rejected by voters, and a second constitutional reform effort led by Kast’s party in 2023 also failed.
Some activists have also criticised the outgoing administration of Gabriel Boric, which described itself as a feminist government but faced backlash for delaying legislation to legalise abortion more broadly. A bill proposing wider access to abortion was only introduced in Congress in 2025.
