South America lifting abortion bans amid international pressure

The Chilean Chamber of Deputies’ Health Commission postponed voting Tuesday to lift abortion restrictions after lobbying from Christian Democrats and other representatives. The bill, introduced by President Michelle Bachelet in January, would allow abortions on pre-born babies up to 12 weeks old in cases of rape, circumstances that threaten the mother’s life, or if the baby likely will not survive.

Several members of the Christian Democratic party brought the Health Commission a petition on Monday, noting the bill did not include “consideration of the right to life of the unborn” or adequate assistance to pregnant women.

Representatives protested when the commission president, Juan Luis Castro, made a June 30 call for a vote before all the invited experts and organizations had testified.

“This reflects the lack of dialogue and the lack of flexibility that we have had over this year and a half,” said Rep. Javier Macaya. “Such an important bill which threatens the life of the unborn is a project that deserves more discussion, at least hearing the various organizations who feel they have something to say.”

Now the Chamber of Deputies has two weeks to consider the bill. If it is approved, it will pass to the Senate.

Bachelet has championed overturning abortion restrictions ever since her first presidential campaign.

“The absolute ban puts thousands of Chileans’ lives at risk,” she said recently. “Facts have shown that the absolute criminalization of abortion has not stopped the practice.”

Researchers estimate between 15,000 and 160,000 illegal abortions occur in Chile each year. Bachelet also said she respects doctors’ “conscientious objection” to performing abortions.

The passage of the bill would make Chile the 37th country in the last 20 years to transform abortion law to eliminate protection for unborn children, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. The majority of South American countries now allow exceptions for abortion, and more are considering them under pressure from women’s rights activists and the international community.

The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights urged Chile in June to overturn its abortion ban and pass Bachelet’s bill. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women called for Ecuador to decriminalize abortions that result from rape in February. Last year, Bolivia eased abortion restrictions for pregnancies that result from rape or endanger women’s lives.

In cases of rape, only the perpetrator—not the woman or the baby—should be punished, said Alejandra Ruiz Arteaga, director of the Chilean Christian crisis pregnancy center Centro de Ayuda para la Mujer. Victims should be protected, accompanied, and treated psychologically.

“That woman has been suffering agony long before she became pregnant by rape,” Ruiz Arteaga said.

While pro-abortion activists in Chile are focused on special cases now, they'll likely expand their calls for legalization, said Brian Clowes, research director for Human Life International.

"Every time we see small legal openings for abortion in [special] cases, we see that such a concession is immediately followed by calls for unrestricted access," he said.