When Chile moved to totally ban abortion in 1989, abortion campaigners insisted that illegal abortion rates would climb and harm caused to women from the same would also increase. But deaths from illegal abortion plummeted after the ban, and Chile has become a leader in maternal healthcare with one of the lowest maternal mortality rate in the Americas.  

Now a new examination of the official records by the MELISA Institute - published in the official journal of the Chilean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology shows that not only abortion-related mortality continued its decreasing trend in Chile, but hospital discharges due to illegal abortion have also significantly decreased during the last decade
The Institute notes that: " Chile displays a continuous decreasing trend of hospital discharges due to complications of abortions suspected to be illegally induced - represented by specific codes of the World Health Organisation classification - at a rate of 2% per year since 2001" - a further drop of more than 20% in a decade.

They add that "the high quality of Chilean vital statistics indicates these findings are unlikely to be the result of an artifact of the registry system."

Furthermore, the article presents previously unpublished data of an ongoing study on the vulnerability profile of 3,134 Chilean women with unplanned pregnancies at risk of induced abortion. This research suggests that women at high risk of abortion display a vulnerability profile marked by coercion and fear, which together account for nearly 70% of the reasons for declaring the intention to terminate the pregnancy.

The data suggest that support programs directed to vulnerable women can prevent most illegal abortions, with an outcome of live birth (with or without adoption) ranging between 69% and 94% depending on the risk group.

Commenting on the results, Niamh Uí Bhriain of the Life Institute said that it was an important finding, which suggests strongly that better support and better answers are what women in crisis require, instead of abortion.

In Chile, it is estimated that most illegal abortions are provoked through the self-administration of misoprostol. However, several authors agree that the Chilean progress in this matter is likely to be explained by the success of maternal health policy interventions, and the emergence of support programs for vulnerable women with unplanned pregnancies at risk of abortion, amongst other factors.  

For more information about this subject and to request a certified translation of the article to English or an interview with Dr. Elard Koch, please contact the Division of Public Relations of the MELISA Institute at or call to +56 41 234 5814

Links

• http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-11/mi-tca110614.php