SANTIAGO, Chile — The Chilean House of Representatives has approved a new law with a vote of 59-27 that establishes March 25 as the “Day of the Unborn Child and of Adoption.”

Although the proposal was granted initial approval on May 14, the congressional Human Rights Committee then introduced a modification to instead call it the “Day for Pregnant Women and Adoption.” The request was declared inadmissible by the president of the House of Representatives.

Sen. Jaime Orpis of the Independent Democratic Union party sponsored the measure to set aside March 25 as the day to honor the unborn and adoption in Chile. Orpis said the idea was to protect human life from the moment of conception. The day coincides with the Catholic Church’s annual liturgical celebration of the Annunciation, when Jesus Christ was miraculously conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary.

Rep. Jorge Sabag of the Christian Democratic Party said the law “is nothing more than the consequence of Article 19 of the constitution of the republic, which guarantees the right to life for all persons and that the law shall protect the life of the unborn.”

The law points to other countries that also remember the unborn on March 25 in order to highlight the value of life, to condemn attacks against defenseless human beings and to promote the reversal of laws that enshrine abortion.

The law states, “To protect the life of the unborn is to recognize the right to life of every human being, even against the will of their own progenitors. In this way, no one can dispose of the life of another.”

National Catholic Register 9/12-13