Chile: Congress takes step toward abortion decriminalization
Associated PressSANTIAGO, Chile — The lower house of Chile’s Congress took a step toward decriminalizing abortion in most cases Tuesday, voting to craft a law barring prosecution of women who get abortions in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. Decriminalization of abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy would protect women from seeking the procedure in possibly unsafe conditions, said Chilean lawmakers who support the measure. Mónica Zalaquett, the minister of women’s affairs, said that “this government will always protect life, from its conception” and that “no woman in Chile is serving” jail time for having an abortion. The project to decriminalize abortion in most cases languished in Chile’s Congress for several years and was only reactivated when a similar law was approved in Argentina in December 2020.