Chile defies church and legalises divorce

[arcos]

Chile defies church and legalises divorce

Couples eager to end their marriages breathed a sign of relief in Chile yesterday as the lower house of Congress approved a bill to legalise divorce.

Until Thursday Chile was the only country in the Americas - and one of the few left in the world - to forbid divorce.

<snip>

Applause erupted in Chile's lower house after the clause-by-clause vote. The bill has gone through almost nine years of legislative wrangling.

Successive centre-left governments have tried to liberalise Chile's family laws, which were set out in 1884. Eighteen bills died in Congress before the lower house managed to pass one in 1995. But it lingered in the Senate until last September and, after much controversy, it passed in January. Today's vote in the lower house was its last legislative hurdle.

<snip>

http://www.guardian.co.uk/chile/story/0,13755,1167785,00.html

[arcos]

1. kick n/t

[fob]

2. Is this guy for real?

snip

The rightwing senator Hernán Larraín said the state had opened a Pandora's Box that would mean more broken families. He pointed out that only about 15% of Chilean marriages end in separation (a further 10% end in annulment). But he said there was not one country where divorce was legal and the rate was lower than 30%.

"Countries like the US have a 50% rate of divorce, for a first marriage," he said.

"But two out of three marriages in a second marriage will divorce. So the trouble with divorce is that it brings more divorce."

Opinion polls show 73% of Chileans are in favour of divorce, 25% oppose it, and only 2% are undecided.
end snip

So if divorce is illegal, then everyone's marriage is just fine and dandy! It's only when divorce is legalized that people just divorce for the hell of it?

Divorce brings more divorce? It couldn't have anything to do with the person now, could it? Give me a break.

The fact that the rightwingers are going against a clear majority of their countrymen/women is apperntly a trademark move not isolated to just our brand of rightwingers.

[arcos]

3. yes, it's ridiculous...

right wingers everywhere are just nuts...