Key victory for parental rights in Chile

 (Photo: Unsplash/Annie Spratt)

The right of parents to decide how their children are educated, especially when it comes to sex education, has been protected following a ruling by the Chilean Constitutional Tribunal.

The tribunal declared unconstitutional certain provisions in a children's rights Bill that would have prioritised children's "progressive autonomy" over parental oversight.

The demand that sex education be "secular and non-sexist" was also overturned following a local campaign.

The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which supported campaigners, said the provision would have led to the exclusion of different religious and moral perspectives in teaching on the subject.

Tomás Henríquez, Director of Advocacy in Latin America and the Caribbean for ADF International, said the verdict had important ramifications beyond Chile.

"The state should not interfere with parent-child relationships," he said. 

"We welcome the Chilean Constitutional Tribunal's ruling, which sets a strong precedent for the protection of parental rights in Latin America.

"A majority of judges confirmed that the government cannot impose a worldview on religious and moral issues, nor interfere without grave reasons in the decision-making of parents when it comes to directing their children's upbringing and the exercise of their rights."

News
SNP 'conversion therapy' ban would be 'fundamentally illiberal'
SNP 'conversion therapy' ban would be 'fundamentally illiberal'

SNP support has dropped, but they are still the frontrunners for next month's elections.

Franklin Graham pushes back against Pope's war comments amid war of words with Trump
Franklin Graham pushes back against Pope's war comments amid war of words with Trump

Graham told Piers Morgan that while he did not want or support war, there was justification for it "when you're fighting evil".

Archbishop of Canterbury joins Pope in call for peace
Archbishop of Canterbury joins Pope in call for peace

The Pope has been outspoken against the latest war in the Middle East.

Church warden murder conviction quashed as Court of Appeal orders retrial
Church warden murder conviction quashed as Court of Appeal orders retrial

The Court of Appeal has overturned the murder conviction of Benjamin Field, the former church warden jailed in 2019 for the death of university lecturer Peter Farquhar, in a significant ruling that reopens one of the UK’s most complex criminal cases.