Chilean Court Upholds Right to Abortion

Tribunal Constitucional de Chile (Aug. 21, 2017):

A Chilean court has upheld a law decriminalizing abortion in cases of rape, fatal fetal impairment, and when a woman's life is in danger.  A group of conservative senators representing more than a quarter of the members of Senate challenged the law's constitutionality.

The decision is grounded in international human rights treaties.  With these rights in mind, and in view of the effect of pregnancy on women, the court concluded that the criminal law should be used only as a last resort.

Regarding the "threat to the woman's life" criterion, the Court has decided that only assessment of the physician attending the woman is necessary in order not to delay the provision of care.

The opinions of two physicians are required in an assessment of whether a case is one of "fatal fetal impairment."  The Court warned against "decisional paralysis" in such cases, since delay can pose a danger to the patient.

Finally, in cases of rape, a child under the age of 14 must have an abortion before 14 weeks of gestation, while an older patient has under 12 weeks of gestation.

Even though it remains under in the Inter-American human rights systems whether artificial legal persons have the right to conscientious objection, the Court, intending to promote freedom of conscience and religion, ruled that hospitals and clinics may lodge institutional conscientious objections to abortion.