Chilean president pushes for changes to abortion law

Chilean president pushes for changes to abortion law
Chilean president pushes for changes to abortion law

Chilean president pushes for changes to abortion law

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Last month a 25 year old woman was arrested in the Chilean city of Calama, after she was treated for what a doctors suspected was a deliberately induced an abortion. Abortion is illegal in Chile, even in cases of rape. It became illegal at the end of the Pinochet military dictatorship. Now, legislation is being considered that would make it available in some limited circumstances. Easing the restrictions has been a priority for Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, who is a pediatrician. The legislation faces strong opposition. Lessie Jo Frazier, professor of American Studies and Gender Studies at Indiana University and author of Salt in the Sand: Memory, Violence, and the Nation-State in Chile, 1890-Present, joins us to discuss the current debate on abortion in Chile. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)