Chileans Stage Protest Demanding Reform In Abortion Laws

Citizens of Santiago, Chile, are demanding reform in abortion laws. Earlier this week, they took to the streets, demanding that not only should abortion be legalised but it should also be made free, reported Business Live.

The current law on abortion

According to the present law on abortion in Chile, abortion can only be performed in cases of rape and in times of health issues.

AFP reported a 19-year-old student Isidora saying: "Abortion is a basic human right. This march is necessary to achieve what we’ve always wanted. It gives us greater strength on the road to freedom."

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Allowed only on three grounds

Former military dictator Augusto Pinochet had completely criminalised abortion in 1989.

This was changed in 2017 as the then president Michelle Bachelet proposed a Bill that decriminalised abortion in three cases of exception which are, rape, risk to the mother’s life and disability. The Bill was approved and became a law.

Macarena Castañeda, spokesperson for a feminist movement that attended the march, said, "Those three cases account for only 3% of abortions in Chile and the other 97% of women do so secretly and at high risk, and we cannot allow that to happen."

Majority of the Latin American countries have laws like Chile which only permit abortion in these three cases.

Abortion is only legal in Uruguay, Cuba and Mexico City, the capital of Mexico.

In traditionally Catholic countries like El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, abortion is completely banned.

Picture for representation purpose only

Read Also: Indonesia: Teen Raped By Brother Jailed For Having Abortion

Kriti Dwivedi is an intern with SheThePeople.Tv