Chilean High Court Bans Emergency Contraceptive Pill

SANTIAGO, Chile, April 7 – Chile’s highest court has banned distribution of the so-called “morning-after” contraceptive pill, ending a government program that has been distributing it free to women age 14 and older since February.

The 5-4 ruling by the Constitutional Court, which cannot be appealed, further reduces reproductive options for women in Chile, where abortion is illegal under any circumstances. The still-secret ruling, leaked to the media April 2, resulted from a request by 31 members of Chile’s legislature who claimed the pill constituted abortion.

“Poor women will not have access to the pill now,” said Francisco Vidal, a spokesman for Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, a pediatrician. She has said she set up the program of free distribution at public health centers in order to bring equality to Chilean women.

The legislators initially sought to ban all hormonal contraceptives and materials such as intra-uterine devices, and to end measures that gave confidentiality in counseling and family planning methods to girls over 14. It is not yet clear whether the high court’s ruling, which is to be made public April 22, included those provisions.

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