Abortion: The Global Debate

Chilean president Sebastián Piñera made headlines this week for praising an 11-year-old rape victim’s willingness to have her rapist’s baby. Not that she has any choice in the matter: Chile, like six other countries worldwide, completely bans the practice of abortion, even in cases of rape, incest, and to save the mother’s life. The 11-year old Piñera was lauding for her “maturity” was repeatedly and brutally raped for two years by her mother’s boyfriend. In a television interview, the child said that having the baby would be like “having a doll,” a statement that indicates just how mature and ready to raise a child she actually is.

The global debate about a woman’s right to abortion touches virtually every country on earth. In countries that strictly ban the practice such as Chile, stories often surface of people who make good cases for its legality. In Ireland last year, the decades-long complete ban on abortion was called into question by the death of Savita Halappanavar, who died while having a miscarriage but was not allowed to have a life-saving abortion of her already dying fetus due to the fact that it still had a heartbeat. The scandal was complicated by the Catholic basis of Irish law on abortions since Savita was a Hindu. Her death has led to the first ever “exception law” being passed today in Ireland, allowing abortions in cases of rape, incest, and danger to the mother.