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UN ORDERS CHILE TO PROVIDE ABORTION AND DIVORCE

UNITED NATIONS, June 23 (LSN) - Yesterday, the UN's Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women completed its review of Chile's compliance with the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The UN complained bitterly that Chile did not offer legal abortion or divorce and demanded that laws "must" be changed.

The UN used its familiar tactic of arguing abortions must be legalized or else unsafe abortions done in secret will hurt and even kill women. Critics argue that the exact same argument could be made to legalize and mandate government provision of prostitution, drug abuse and suicide. Regarding abortion, the UN report on the committee's deliberations noted that "the prohibition on abortion -- for any reason -- was another issue of great concern. Year after year, clandestine abortions had horrible consequences, particularly for poorer women who could not travel abroad to address their situation." "At the very least, the termination of pregnancy should be allowed for health reason," one UN "expert" demanded.

Harping on familiar notes, the Chilean government was told "every woman must be able to decide on the number, timing and spacing of her children. To do that, women needed education, information and access to contraceptive information. It was deeply troubling that in emergency situations, including cases of rape, emergency contraceptive measures were not available."

In addressing the lack of divorce in the country, the UN report said "Chile's lack of a divorce law was a concern. It was surprising that the marriage link could not be done away with when the causes for it ceased to exist." The UN instructed the Chilean lawmakers that a divorce law "should not be constructed in a way that prevented the true dissolution of a marriage. It must be formulated to allow the couple to remarry, especially the woman. Also, the bill's provisions must not render it difficult to obtain a divorce, particularly when initiated by the woman."

For the UN document go to:
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/1999/19990622.WOM1145.html

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