* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Just 74 countries worldwide permit abortion on broad grounds or without restriction [1]. Chile – where more than 70% of the population is Catholic – has a total ban on abortion, with penalties of up to five years in prison. Recently, however, President Michelle Bachelet proposed to put an end to this ban by sending a Bill to the Chilean Congress to decriminalize abortion on three grounds: fetal malformation; when the mother's life is at risk; and where pregnancy is the result of rape.
The Bill’s limited scope
In the absence of official data, estimates (by government and women's movements) are that between 100,000 and 140,000 clandestine abortions are performed in Chile every year. Bachelet, who appeared on National television to announce the Bill, said: "Facts have shown that the absolute criminalization of abortion has not stopped the practice… This is a difficult situation and we must face it as a mature country."
Several Abortion Bills have been presented in Chile over time, but have never been discussed by Congress. This is the first Bill submitted by a President and despite its limited scope, heated debates are expected in Parliament.
Natalia Flores, who works at the Ministry of Health and is Executive Director of Observatorio de Género y Equidad [Gender and Equity Watch], says the conceptualization of the Bill was brought about by negotiations between the parties making up the ruling coalition ‘Nueva Mayoria’ [New Majority]. The coalition includes the Christian Democratic Party, which, for more than two decades has “repeatedly refused to be part of any initiative to change the current complete criminalization of abortion in Chile”. Flores believes the Bill was restricted to three grounds only so that an agreement within the ruling coalition could be reached. Already though, within the Nueva Mayoría some MPs have expressed their refusal to support the Bill.
“97% of Chilean women who have an abortion will continue to do so in a clandestine and unsafe way”
While Flores and other feminists agree the submission marks progress, they also stress it does not go far enough to ensure women's right to freely decide. Flores asserts: “This Bill, as it is, clearly does not guarantee the right to decide for Chilean women, as it will only affect approximately 3% of abortions currently performed in Chile.”
Similarly, Siomara Molina says: “97% of Chilean women who have an abortion will continue to do so in a clandestine and unsafe way, risking being criminalized. The reality of abortion is far broader than those three grounds [stipulated in the Bill], so the Bill is insufficient". Molina coordinates the campaign “Derecho a decidir = Personas libres” [Right to decide = Free individuals], which was launched in 2014 and is now represented across nine regional capitals in Chile. The campaign aims to make visible the issue of abortion, as well as raise Chilean society's awareness about the reality of clandestine abortions so that the demand for sexual and reproductive rights is shared by all – not just feminists.
Molina adds, " The decision to have an abortion or not is a decision each woman makes according to the situation she is in when getting pregnant. And it is related to your economic, family, work, love status; it has to do with your life project. Women decide to have or not have an abortion regardless of what the law tells us. We have the right to decide about our bodies and our lives, they are not the bodies and lives of those who nowadays are deciding on our behalf. They are not the Church’s, or the doctors' or the judicial system's bodies. So it should be our right. But today in Chile that right is being completely violated."
The influence of Catholicism
Since 2004, Corporación Humanas has been conducting the survey Women's perceptions about their situation and conditions of life in Chile. In its tenth edition, the findings of which were released in December 2014, they asked: "How much do you agree with abortion being legal in each of the following situations...?" At the national level, between 70 to 80% supported therapeutic abortion.
Carolina Carrera, President of Corporación Humanas explains that in recent years support for abortion in cases of rape has also grown. "This is because in recent years the media has covered cases of 11 or 12 year old girls, raped by step-fathers, fathers or other relatives, who had no possibility to stop their pregnancies. I think this has led public opinion to have a more positive view of abortion in those cases."
But according to the survey, support plunges to 20% for the option of women being able to decide to have an abortion in any circumstance. Carrera thinks this correlates with a country where abortion is forbidden and criminalized; and where "Catholic fundamentalism is very strong, and there are well-resourced so-called Pro-Life campaigns”.
Broader sexual and reproductive rights education and laws needed
Conservative religious views also impact broader sexual and reproductive rights issues, such as sexuality education and contraception. Molina says that, just like abortion, "any sexuality-related issue is treated as a taboo in Chile." For Carrera, "a greater level of knowledge seems to raise fears - if people knew more, there would be more support for women's right to decide over our bodies".
According to Flores, the greatest pending issue in Chile is "legalizing abortion in all circumstances, and this comes together with the need for a broader law dealing not only specifically with sexual and reproductive rights, but also taking into account the specificities of the different ways in which we are women”. This legal framework should guarantee “voluntary motherhood, both for those who decide not to have children and for those who wish to, but face biological constraints. Lesbian mothers’ issues or in-vitro fertilization for single women or lesbians are also not regulated. A serious pending issue is everything related to transgender women, from respecting their dignity in public healthcare to surgeries."
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[1] For more information, the Center for Reproductive Rights has been publishing an informative world map of abortion rights since 1998 – and also the Guardian has a global abortion rights interactive.
Research assistance by Gabby De Cicco
