Chilean voters elect pro-life candidate Jose Antonio Kast as president

Chilean voters elected José Antonio Kast as president on December 14. Kast, a conservative Catholic running for the Republican party, defeated Communist party candidate Jeannette Jara, receiving 58% of the vote to Jara's 42%.

Key Takeaways:

• President-elect Kast has previously affirmed his support of protecting human life at all stages, with no exceptions for abortion, while also opposing euthanasia.

• He previously campaigned more heavily on abortion issues, but this election focused more on crime and illegal immigration.

• He takes over for current president Gabriel Boric, who promoted a pro-abortion agenda while in office.

The Details:

Kast's victory comes four years after his defeat by Gabriel Boric, an outspoken abortion supporter. Kast reportedly supports protecting human beings in all stages "from conception to natural death," opposes the killing of those conceived in rape and incest, and opposes euthanasia.

According to the New York Times, Kast focused heavily on pro-life issues earlier in his political career, but avoided focusing on abortion this election. Instead, he campaigned heavily on policies surrounding crime and immigration reform.

In his acceptance speech, Kast touched on his faith, stating that "nothing would be possible if we didn’t have God. And that’s something we can’t fail to acknowledge.” He prayed that the Lord would give him “wisdom, temperance, and strength, to always be up to this challenge.”

According to Catholic News Agency, Kast will take office March 11, 2026.

Zoom In:

Kast will take the reins from Boric, who campaigned heavily on a pro-abortion platform in 2021. Boric tried to fulfill campaign promises of expanding abortion in the historically pro-life country by introducing legislation to make abortion legal for any reason up to 14 weeks, but garnered little public support.

Abortion, which was decriminalized in 2017, is only allowed in the country for cases of rape, risk to the mother's life, or a life-limiting fetal diagnosis. 

Though Kast has not made any campaign promises about what he may do to the current abortion law, pro-abortion activists are worried that Kast's victory means there may be even fewer preborn children killed in the months ahead.

"There is an imminent threat to the reproductive rights of girls and women in Chile, putting at risk access to contraceptives, the morning-after pill, and abortion by three exceptions, and blocking any legislative progress to expand these guarantees," said Catalina Calderon, an advocacy director at a regional rights group, the Women's Equality Center.

The Bottom Line:

All preborn children in Chile deserve full protection from abortion — even those conceived in less than ideal circumstances, or those who may be faced with a life-limiting diagnosis. And women deserve true support.

Pro-lifers in the country can hope that Kast will work to restore those protections to all.