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. 2015 May 19;15(4):e6139.
doi: 10.5867/medwave.2015.04.6139.

Abortion: taking the debate seriously

[Article in English, Spanish]
Miguel Hugo Kottow Lang  1
Affiliations

Abortion: taking the debate seriously

[Article in English, Spanish]
Miguel Hugo Kottow Lang. Medwave. .

Abstract
in English, Spanish

Voluntarily induced abortion has been under permanent dispute and legal regulations, because societies invariably condemn extramarital pregnancies. In recent decades, a measure of societal tolerance has led to decriminalize and legalize abortion in accordance with one of two models: a more restricted and conservative model known as therapeutic abortion, and the model that accepts voluntary abortion within the first trimester of pregnancy. Liberalization of abortion aims at ending clandestine abortions and decriminalizes the practice in order to increase reproductive education and accessibility of contraceptive methods, dissuade women from interrupting their pregnancy and, ultimately, make abortion a medically safe procedure within the boundaries of the law, inspired by efforts to reduce the incidence of this practice. The current legal initiative to decriminalize abortion in Chile proposes a notably rigid set of indications which would not resolve the three main objectives that need to be considered: 1) Establish the legal framework of abortion; 2) Contribute to reduce social unrest; 3) Solve the public health issue of clandestine, illegal abortions. Debate must urgently be opened to include alternatives in line with the general tendency to respect women's decision within the first trimester of pregnancy.

El aborto voluntariamente inducido se mantiene a lo largo de la historia como práctica prevalente sumida en la oscuridad y en la clandestinidad porque toda fecundación extramatrimonial ha sido socialmente rechazada. Desde mediados del siglo 20, se produce una actitud de tolerancia que lleva a la despenalización y legalización del aborto, según dos modelos jurídicos: el modelo de indicaciones, conocido como aborto terapéutico, adoptado en naciones conservadoras, y el modelo de plazos que permite a la mujer requerir el aborto dentro del primer trimestre de embarazo. La liberalización del aborto obedece a la invariable política social que busca eliminar la clandestinidad y sus nocivos efectos, para educar, disuadir y, eventualmente, considerar el aborto como un servicio médico seguro y accesible dentro de los marcos legalmente establecidos, todas normativas orientadas a disminuir la incidencia del aborto procurado. El Proyecto de Ley de despenalización del aborto presentado al Parlamento chileno obedece al modelo de indicaciones, que son presentadas en forma muy restrictiva y por ende no cumplen con los tres objetivos que deben orientarla: 1) Enmarcar legalmente la práctica del aborto; 2) Contribuir a la paz social; 3) Resolver el problema de salud pública del aborto clandestino. Es de urgencia abrir el debate a incluir alternativas más resolutivas, en consonancia con la tendencia general a preferir el modelo de plazos que incluye el respeto a la decisión de la mujer.

Keywords: beginnings of human life; induced abortion; laws and statutes; status of embryo.

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