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Therapeutic abortion a hot election issue in Chile

April 2, 2009
Daniela Estrada, IPS News

The debate on the decriminalization of therapeutic abortion has been revived ahead of the December presidential elections in Chile, one of the few countries in the world where abortion is illegal even under extreme circumstances, such as risk to the mother's life or a severely deformed fetus.

Nevertheless, tens of thousands of Chilean women resort to illegal abortions every year. A number of reasons lie behind each woman’s decision to terminate a pregnancy, as several women who have had abortions described to IPS.

One of them, Paz, had just separated from her husband when she found out she was pregnant three years ago. "He was the absolute worst, I didn’t want to have his child," said the 32-year-old victim of domestic abuse, who asked that her real name not be used.

• Read the complete article.

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