{"id":125614,"date":"2016-09-07T19:14:25","date_gmt":"2016-09-07T23:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=125614"},"modified":"2016-09-07T19:14:40","modified_gmt":"2016-09-07T23:14:40","slug":"chilean-senate-advances-bill-decriminalize-abortion-in-some-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/chilean-senate-advances-bill-decriminalize-abortion-in-some-cases\/","title":{"rendered":"Chilean Senate committee advances bill to decriminalize abortion in some cases"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On Tuesday, Chile’s Senate Health Commission\u00a0voted to approve a bill that would legalize abortion in three specific scenarios: rape, risk to the life of the mother, and “serious” fetal defects.<\/p>\n

Socialist\u00a0President Michelle Bachelet – who recently scored approval ratings as painfully low as 24%<\/a> –\u00a0vowed to\u00a0loosen the nation’s abortion laws during her campaign\u00a0for re-election in 2013, and is behind the bill to legalize some abortions, according to teleSUR, a pan\u2013Latin American\u00a0government-sponsored news agency.<\/p>\n

TeleSUR reports<\/a> that the bill survived the Health Commission vote in part due to unexpected support from the Christian Democratic Party. Senator Carolina Goic, leader of the Christian Democratic Party, supported the new legislation, to the surprise of many. The Christian Democrats have been a major factor in opposing the legalization of abortion in Chile, and were reportedly expected to oppose the bill.<\/p>\n

Arguing in favor of the bill, Socialist Senator Fulvio Rossi said, \u201cWhoever is against the bill believes they hold the absolute truth on how much the life of a fetus is worth, while disregarding whoever disagrees with their values.\u201d<\/p>\n

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