TITLE:
Profile of abortion in Chile, with extremely restrictive law
AUTHORS:
Ramiro Molina-Cartes, Temístocles Molina, Ximena Carrasco, Pamela Eguiguren
KEYWORDS:
Abortion Discharges, Abortion Law, Unlawful Abortion
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Vol.3 No.10,
December
24,
2013
ABSTRACT: Chile, together with El Salvador, Malta and
Nicaragua has the most restrictive abortion laws. In these countries there is
very little information on pregnancies that end in abortions. An analysis is
made of official information regarding hospital discharges for abortion in
Chile between 2001 and 2010, classified according to age and according to the
WHO ICD 10. The Chilean Ministry of Health’s Statistics Office (DEIS) collected
the data. In 334,485 hospital discharges for abortion, Ectopic Abortion (O00),
the Hydatidiform Mole (O01) and Other Abnormal Products of Conception (O02) corresponded
to 37.2% of hospital discharges. Spontaneous Abortion (O03) reached 15% and Non
Specified Abortion (O06) reached 35.5% and most probably included complications
of induced abortions. 77% of hospital discharges corresponded to women between
20 and 34 years of age. Adolescents correspond to 11% of hospital discharges.
In the annual average of 33,500 hospital discharges, Other Abnormal Products of
Conception (O02), Other Abortions (O05), and Non Specified Abortions (O05)
contribute to 72.7% of hospital discharges. This is explained by incomplete
diagnoses, by means of the omission of induced abortion as this would mean jail
for the woman and legal red-tape for the health personnel involved. Maternal
mortality has not fallen. Abortion Mortality and Fatality rates do not change.
There is a discrepancy between the law and hospital discharge diagnoses for
abortion. The antiabortion law remains unheeded and obeys an ideological bias
that brings damage and abuse to Chilean women. The aim of this study is to gain
better information from a country that does not allow abortion under any
circumstance, and its usefulness to
countries in similar situations, together with its negative consequences
on woman’s health and rights.