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Parliamentarians in Chile yesterday voted to authorize abortion in cases of risk to the mother, rape or the non-viability of the fetus. If confirmed, the lifting of these prohibitions would still require confirmation by the Constitutional Court.
Chile's President Michelle Bachelet made abortion one of the major issues of her campaign for re-election in 2013.
Since 1990, Chile has had one of the most restrictive abortion regimes in the world. Voluntary abortion is not legal in any situation.
Soon after her re-election, the socialist president announced in May 2014 the drafting of a document seeking to relax the law in specific cases, i.e. risk to the mother, non-viability of the fetus and rape.
Presented the following year, the presidential draft led to intense debate, including among the parliamentary majority, with the Christian Democrats appearing to be divided.
However, several months prior to the election that will choose her successor, Congress is about to satisfy Bachelet's objectives.
At the end of a marathon session on Wednesday, senators finally gave the green light to a document drafted at the Moneda Palace, although not without having included several changes.
Having already approved the initial government draft last year, parliamentarians were expected to examine the changes yesterday, including a broadening of the conscience clause from doctors alone in the first draft to providing such a clause for the whole of the medical profession including nurses, etc.
The rejection of certain amendments may also necessitate the constitution of a joint committee to bridge certain differences although not to challenge the adoption of the major principles of the document.
"This is a historic morning," President Bachelet said after the Senate vote.
"Going beyond the personal opinion of each person, what this document provides for is that we are a country where women who are facing such situations may make the best decision possible," she said.
On several previous occasions, Bachelet had noted that abortion had been permitted in Chile for more than fifty years in cases of risk to the mother and of a non-viable fetus.
It was only in 1990 prior to giving up power after a lost referendum that dictator Augusto Pinochet banned abortion in all circumstances.
Although polls have indicated strong public support (70% approval rating) for Bachelet's draft, the opposition, backed by the Catholic Church, which has been highly mobilized on the issue since 2015 and by numerous evangelical groups that are growing strongly in Chile, has not given up the fight.
It has already announced that it is ready to take the issue to the Constitutional Tribual, where discussions could prove to be very strained.
According to the World Health Organization, in addition to Chile, several nations have completely banned abortion.
They are Salvador, Nicaragua, Surinam, Haïti, the Dominican Republic (Americas), the Philippines and the Palau islands (Asia), Senegal, Guinea-Buissau, Gabon, Congo, Madagascar, Djibouti, and Mauritania (Africa), and Malta, Andorra and San Marino (Europe).
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