Women Behind Bars

Chile's Abortion Laws : a Human Rights Analysis

in English, 98 pages,
Center for Reproductive Law & Policy, December 01, 1998
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The Chilean abortion law prohibits all abortions and is one of the most restrictive in the world. Chilean women are being prosecuted for obtaining or inducing their own abortions and are, in some cases, being sent to prison. This analysis documents a pattern of human rights abuses against these women. The restrictive abortion law violates women’s reproductive rights, including their right to health, their right to liberty and security, as well as potentially their right to life. In addition to the rights violated by the prohibition itself, the methods by which women are reported to the police and the criminal process that women, the abortion providers and their “accomplices” undergo, violate numerous other human rights. This book makes recommendations to the Chilean government to undertake a series of legal and policy changes, such as ensuring improved access to reproductive health services and instituting an exception for therapeutic abortion.