Chilean woman wins abortion lawsuit!
Abortion
Santiago, Chile, Sep 25 (EFE).- By María José Rey
A civil court in the Chilean capital ruled in favor of a woman who sued the doctor who prevented her from having an abortion, despite invoking the country’s three-exceptions law.
Francisca Millán, an attorney on the case, told EFE on Friday that this “judicial victory sets a milestone across multiple dimensions.”
“This is the first favorable ruling of its kind. It stems from an indemnification lawsuit for breach of contractual obligations, meaning it is ‘ex-post,’ seeking compensation rather than enforcement, since performance is no longer possible,” explained Millán, a lawyer at the firm AML Defensa de Mujeres.
The verdict “sets a precedent in several respects. It establishes clear legal standards for what these duties entail, how they must be fulfilled, and under what circumstances they are deemed breached,” she noted.
The ruling was published on Wednesday, Sep.23, coinciding with the ninth anniversary of the 2017 enactment of Law 21,030, promulgated during the second administration of former socialist President Michelle Bachelet (2006–2010 / 2014–2018), which decriminalized voluntary termination of pregnancy under three specific circumstances: life threat to the mother, fetal inviability, and rape.
The court held that “there was a breach of the medical services contract by Dr. Eduardo Carstens, as the care provided failed to meet the lex artis governing his profession, as well as national and international standards for patient care and rights protection.”
The decision added that the practitioner engaged in “unlawful obstruction of access to the legally recognized procedure for voluntary termination of pregnancy, non-compliance with established protocols, and the provision of erroneous and misleading information.”
The court ordered an award of 100,275,000 Chilean pesos (just over 100,000 dollars), with Millán highlighting the significance of the legal analysis.
“It addresses the duty to inform effectively and outlines how this obligation is structured, affirming that access is a fundamental right requiring guaranteed operational systems,” the attorney observed.
A long path toward justice
Pizarro, a music teacher and mother of one, sought care at Tabancura Clinic in 2018 during her pregnancy with her daughter, Clara, when she was informed that the fetus had a bilateral cervical hygroma (fluid-filled sacs around the neck).
She was twelve weeks pregnant when doctors also diagnosed fetal hydrops (fluid accumulation under the skin), a condition that would lead to fetal death during gestation.
Pizarro requested an abortion under the ground of fetal inviability. The procedure was not performed, and her pregnancy progressed to twenty weeks amidst periodic examinations until fetal death occurred, necessitating an emergency C-section.
The physician told Pizarro that “he was making the choice to protect her from having to make such a painful decision,” Millán recalled.
“Rather than a direct refusal, it was obstruction. Doctors are required strictly to confirm the diagnosis, not to decide the course of action, which rests solely with the patient,” she asserted.
The lawsuit was filed in 2020, but delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, mandatory mediation, and related procedural steps meant the testimony phase took place six years later.
“For Pizarro, bringing visibility to the lengthy journey many women face is paramount,” Millán pointed out.
While the physician and clinic denied that an abortion had been requested, the court found the plaintiff’s evidence persuasive. The ruling remains subject to appeal.
According to Ministry of Health data, Chile has recorded 2,668 terminations due to fetal inviability, 1,917 due to maternal health risks, and 1,899 due to rape since 2018.
Chilean President José Antonio Kast, a self-declared anti-abortion stance holder and father of nine, pledged during his campaign not to engage in a cultural debate over abortion, focusing instead on top public concerns such as crime and the economy.
Cases like Catalina’s “demonstrate that statutory exceptions are never enough, no matter how detailed the regulation,” Millán concluded. EFE
mjr/dmv/mcd
