Chile
ABORTION POLICY
Grounds on which abortion is permitted
To save the life of the woman
To preserve physical health
To preserve mental health
Rape or incest
Foetal impairment
Economic or social reasons
Available on request
No*
No
No
No
No
No
No
Additional requirements
Not applicable.
____________
*Abortion law in Chile has been amended to remove all indications for the legal performance of abortions; however, it is a matter of
dispute whether a defense of necessity might be allowed to justify an abortion performed to save the life of the woman.
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CONTEXT
Government view of fertility level:
No official position
Government intervention concerning fertility level:
No intervention
Government policy on contraceptive use:
Percentage of currently married women using
modern contraception:
Direct support provided
Total fertility rate (1995-2000):
2.4
Age-specific fertility rate (per 1,000 women aged 15-19, 1995-2000):
49
Government has expressed particular concern about:
Morbidity and mortality resulting from induced abortion
Complications of childbearing and childbirth
..
Yes
Maternal mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births; 1990):
National
South America
65
200
Female life expectancy at birth (1995-2000):
78
..
Source: The Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of
the United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references.
92
Chile
BACKGROUND
Abortion in Chile is governed by the Chilean Penal Code (12 November 1874, sections 342-345).
Although the Code prohibits all abortions that are performed with malice (maliciosamente), historically it was
understood that an abortion could be performed to save the life of the pregnant woman. Moreover, the Health
Code (Decree No. 725 of 11 December 1967, section 119) expressly permitted a therapeutic abortion to save
the life of the woman. The performing physician was required to obtain the written consent of two
physicians.
On 15 September 1989, however, the Government of Chile amended section 119 of the Health Code to
provide that “No action may be executed that has as its goal the inducement of abortion” (Law No. 18,826).
The justification provided for the new restrictions was that, given the advances in modern medicine, an
abortion was no longer needed to save the life of a pregnant woman. Owing to this amendment, it is
generally, although not unanimously, believed that no abortions can now be legally performed in Chile.
Under the Penal Code, anyone who performs an abortion with the woman’s consent is subject to the
normal length of short-term imprisonment. If the abortion is performed without the woman’s consent, the
penalty is the maximum length of short-term imprisonment. A woman inducing her own abortion or
consenting to it is subject to the maximum length of short-term imprisonment. Harsher penalties are imposed
on physicians. Despite these penalties, few convictions are made for performing abortions because physical
proof of abortion, such as traumatic injury to internal organs, is necessary to obtain a conviction.
Since 1988, some attempts have been made to increase the penalties for abortion and make them equal to
the penalties for the offences of infanticide and homicide. To date, these attempts have been unsuccessful.
Despite these restrictions, Chile has had very high rates of abortion during the last three decades. In fact,
the high rates of abortion and the resulting high rates of maternal mortality led the Chilean Government to be
one of the first Latin American countries to give official support to family planning activities. Surveys
conducted in the early 1960s indicated that one of every four women in Chile had undergone an abortion.
After the introduction of family planning in the mid-1960s, fertility declined significantly, as did the
incidence of induced abortion and maternal mortality resulting from complications of abortion; deaths from
illegal abortion declined from 118 to 24 per 100,000 live births between 1964 and 1979. Current rates,
however, are still considered to be too high. Maternal deaths from abortion are also viewed as too high, with
abortion complications accounting for up to 40 per cent of all maternal deaths.
Family planning services in Chile are provided mostly to married women. In 1996, the Ministry of
Education created and implemented a sex education programme, despite opposition from conservative
groups. In the same year, the Ministry of Health started a programme for adolescent health that does not,
however, include reproductive health services. The on-going privatization of the health care system in Chile is
having an impact on the availability of family planning services for the poorest sectors of society.
Source: The Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs
of the United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references.
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