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Santiago, Chile, Oct 6, 2021 / 16:19 pm (CNA).

A group of pro-life Chilean doctors on Monday published a video meant to disprove the falsehoods that arise in the discussion of the bill that would decriminalize abortion up to 14 weeks of pregnancy. 

Abortion has been legal in Chile on the grounds of fetal non-viability, risk to the life of the mother, and rape, since September 2017. 

Last month, the Chilean Chamber of Deputies approved the idea of legislating a bill that would decriminalize abortion up to 14 weeks of pregnancy. 

During the vote, the parliamentarians in favor of abortion raised arguments that were denied even by the Minister of Women and Gender Equality, Mónica Zalaquett.

Along the same lines, the Doctors Committed to Life in Chile denied the falsehoods that arise in the current discussion in their Oct. 4 video.

Maternal mortality

Regarding the phrase “today thousands of women die in Chile due to a clandestine abortion,” the obstetrician gynecologist, Jorge Becker, explained that maternal mortality in Chile is one of the “lowest in the world.”

“Between 1990 and 2015 it decreased by more than 70% without having an abortion law of any kind,” he said.

Safe and legal abortion

The obstetrician gynecologist Francisca Valdivieso, stated that “they want us to believe that abortion is a solution for women. But it’s not like that.”

“Nobody tells women about the damage that she will have regarding mental health in the future, about post-traumatic stress, about the depression that they may have, nobody tells them about the risk of the procedure itself, which can range from infertility to death itself, nobody tells them about the risks in their next pregnancies,” she said.

“Abortion does not protect women. Abortion protects the State that does not want to take care of these children, abortion protects their parents who do not want to accompany these pregnant mothers, abortion protects abusers who will continue to pressure and abuse. Do not lie to us, abortion does not protect women, it only hurts us,” said Valdivieso.

A “clump of cells”

From the Testimonies for Life Foundation, Constanza Saavedra, specified that at six weeks of gestation, the heart can be seen beating in an ultrasound.

“Between the sixth and seventh week the eyes, ears, and spine begin to form. At nine weeks all the main organs have begun their development, including the nervous system,” explained Saavedra.

“At 12 weeks she jumps, sucks her thumb, yawns. Clump of cells? Yes, like you and me,” the doctor stated

Women are imprisoned

The pediatrician Soledad Díaz explained that in Chile there are no women in prison for the crime of abortion.

“According to the Gendarmerie registry, there are only six people imprisoned for this crime and they are all men. In Chile, the woman who aborts does not go to prison. Don’t be fooled,” said Díaz.

In addition, in a letter published in El Mercurio Oct. 5, 135 women health professionals expressed that abortion under three causes has caused “the death of more than 1,500 children in the womb of their mother.”

“If the legal process follows the same course as the previous law, not only will abortion be decriminalized, but abortion up to 14 weeks gestation will be legalized,” they warned.

“Again this law will force us to be executioners to whom we swear to watch over the life of every human being. Then there will come, as has happened in other countries, the legalization of the abortion of a full-term child,” affirmed the doctors.

For this reason, “we once again raise our voice and demand that our legislators respect the first of all human rights, the right to life, regardless of the stage of the life cycle that this human being is going through.”

They recalled that they have “the duty to respect and care for the life of every human being, from their conception to their natural death.”

“It is the essence of the Hippocratic oath that we all promised to respect the day we received the title of surgeon. We are proud of our mission and together with all the medical personnel, we fight with effort and passion to fulfill it every day,” the doctors expressed.