More than half of Chileans, 54% of respondents surveyed before the draft text was completed this week, plan on voting against the new constitution, according to pollster Cadem. The current proposal makes a grammatical change to a constitutional clause which abortion advocates already view as restrictive. But Lagos says this change, combined with another proposal that would define a child as any human being under the age of 18, could clear the way for more restrictive abortion laws. With abortion rights expanding across much of Latin America, the latest being Mexico and Argentina, supporters are worried that a right-wing resurgence in the region, could halt progress or see rights backslide. At a rally commemorating the global day of action for access to safe and legal abortion last week in Santiago, 26-year-old student Isadora Calderón told Reuters she felt abortion rights were being threatened by the current proposals.

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Persons: SANTIAGO, pollster, Catalina, Teneo, Gabriel Boric, Antonio Barchiesi, Isadora Calderón, Calderón, Agustina Ramón Michel, Ramón Michel, Natalia Ramos Miranda, Lucinda Elliott, Alexander Villegas, Christian Plumb, Lincoln Organizations: Republican, Reuters, American, Thomson Locations: Catalina Lagos, Lagos, Latin America, Mexico, Argentina, Santiago, Argentine, Chile